Descend
by Baird Crevan
Summary: Starscream becomes the genius behind the Decepticon's new society after enslaving the Autobots.  But constantly lording over their fallen enemies has come at a price that is slowly creeping in the backs of the Decepticon's minds... And killing them. SLASH
1. Prologue: The End

*DISCLAIMER* Unless I suddenly have a death wish, I claim none of the transformers universe as my creation. They belong to Hasbro/Marvel/Japan/Disney whoever. I just write the circumstances of their interaction. Also, "Descend" is used with permission from the author of "Rise." :)

The Decepticons have won the war and have started to develop their dominion over Cybertron, as well as the universe. Yet many realize that their society has relied on war so long, the very fabric of their sanity has started to unravel. Features Starscream. Slightly AU. Post-War.

A/N: Greetings! Thank you so much for taking the time take a look at my story here. With the extensive snowfall in my area causing the school where I student teach to be closed for a second week in a row, I found myself with tons of free time on my hands that I just was itching to write a story.

Many of you are likely familiar with Oni-Gil's univers "Rise," where the Autobots have won and taken over Cybertron, converting those they conquered into slaves. This idea was based on the same premise, but rather the Decepticons have won, and the Autobots have been enslaved (oh the irony!). As such, I named my story "Descend" with permission from Oni-Gil as it was inspired by that story. But as much as it was inspired by that piece, I want to assure you it is not a rip-off: indeed, it's taken on a life of its own. :)

Mine too will have extensive twists and turns, and I hope you enjoy the ride.

Please review!

* * *

**Prologue**

"Com'on Screamer, you've avoided us for every single invitation to the party in the canteen. We're barely a megacycle away from Cybertron and yet you continue to avoid celebrating."

"Skywarp, unlike you and the rest of you imbeciles, my work didn't stop with the defeat of the Autobots. There is huge amounts of data to go through to make sure that all of the slaggers are accounted for and to decide what exactly we are going to do with them once we get to Cybertron."

"Give me a break, even Megatron showed up at last night's festivities."

"That's because he gave me an _extra_ courseload! Primus Skywarp, go frag yourself and comm me when Cybertron is in sight."

Skywarp snorted and stalked off, determined to have a good time even if he couldn't get his trinemate drunk. Thundercracker lingered for a moment longer staring at his commander.

"Can I help you?"

Thundercracker paused again before speaking. "What _are_ we going to do with the Autobots?"

Starscream sighed heavily and pinched the bridge of his nose. "We're looking at an extensive labor force for many of Cybertron's abandoned factories."

"Slavery?"

Starscream gave an agitated look at his comrade. "The war may be over, Thundercracker, but at some point you are going to have to get over your morals. Or at least not imply that your _commanders_ ascribe to your own," He snapped.

Thundercracker bowed his head. "I was merely surprised that we were not executing them. Thank you for the advice though," He said in that infuriatingly demure voice that Starscream had discovered was actually blatant sarcasm.

Starscream rolled his eyes and left, returning to the brig where he had to continue to process all of their prisoners.

* * *

"Oh joy, the screaming one has returned," Rumble said.

"Silence, glitch. Bring in the next prisoner."

Frenzy escorted the captive, giving him a wide berth, almost reverently. Starscream didn't look up from his datapad until the stasis-cuffed 'bot was seated in front of him.

"Prime! I would have thought that Megatron would have processed you himself."

"...I think Megatron is afraid to face me."

Starscream raised an optic-brow and smirked but said nothing. His "helpers" however could not remain silent.

"Why would he be afraid of a fallen Auto-butt? He already beat you once, but I'm sure he's just letting you heal from the last one," Rumble spit out, almost _too_ quickly.

It was true that the Autobot leader did not look too good. He was sparking in some places and he still had oil and energon splattered on his armor and faceplates. The Autobot captive had taken a beating, but had been repaired that he could at least walk unaided. Still, he was obviously in pain, as were many of his compatriots.

"...Would this be an inappropriate time to negotiate for more medical attention for my men? I'm afraid some of them won't make it to Cybertron before-"

"You are a prisoner, not a negotiator!" Frenzy said, nervously loud.

Starscream slammed his servos on the table. "I cannot process this prisoner with slaggers like you constantly interjecting! Both of you are on patrol of the prisoners, effective immediately!"

"But Soundwave said-"

"_I_ am your superior officer, and I _will_ be obeyed," Starscream growled.

Rumble and Frenzy harrumphed, but did as they were told.

"As for you..." Starscream started.*

"I apologize for speaking out of turn-"

Starscream held out a servo to silence him. "I really don't care for your polite antics, Prime. I will see to it that if some of your men have been neglected treatment, it will be corrected, but that is far as I my sympathy will extend.

"Now, for our business. What is your designation?"

Optimus blanched for a second before replying. "Optimus Prime."

"And your rank?"

"Leader of the Autobots and the free world."

Starscream smirked. "Cute. I'll add defender of the squishies and the rest of the helpless wildlife. Or is that too wordy of a title?"

Optimus was silent.

"Hmm. Place of origin."

"Cybertron: Iacon."

"And what was your main trade before the war?"

"I was a civilian. My main trade was mostly assembly work, but I had a hobby of sharpshooting."

Starscream paused in his typing. "_Really_? An assemblymech? I had not thought of such humble beginnings for one that has been a nail in the pede to Megatron for so long."

Optimus tilted his head slightly. "And the terror of the skies was formerly a scientist?"

Starscream looked back to his data pad, ignoring the query. "Did you intend to continue that profession after the war was over?"

"I'm not sure it really matters what my plans were."

Starscream shifted in his chair. "Humor me."

Optimus sighed. "I made no arrangements since being a Prime was supposed to be a lifetime designation." Pause. "Why are you the only one conducting these interviews?"

"You saw Rumble and Frenzy in here a moment ago."

"That's not what I mean."

Starscream stood. "I'm the most competent one around, naturally I would be trusted with the most duties." He commed Frenzy for them to take Prime away.

"Seems a rather unequal share of the burdens of victory."

Starscream shook his head, smiling. "You have been trying to manipulate the prince of machinations, Prime. I applaud your efforts; you actually sound concerned for my welfare."

Prime stood, leaning forward with his stasis cuffs on the table. "Tell me what is going to happen to us." He exuded a sense of urgency and command that Starscream was taken aback. The switch had been almost instantaneous.

"TELL ME!"

Starscream narrowed his eyes. "I suggest you get used to not knowing... and used to those cuffs."

Frenzy and Rumble appeared and Prime immediately took on his more submissive persona, allowing the cassettes to lead him away.

Starscream sat down staring at the data pad, but not really seeing it. That had been rather unpleasant, but he was used to such interviews. Prime was right though; it was odd that Megatron was leaving all of this up to him. Usually he could not be trusted to take the smallest task without making it into some kind of run for power. But in this case, Megatron had given control of all of the prisoners, their treatment, and processing over to him.

And it would not have been such a problem if they had taken the space bridge to arrive on Cybertron in a timely fashion; then at least he would have other things to occupy his time instead of being ship-bound. Instead they had outfitted a transport ship full of all the prisoners and the Earth campaign Decepticons and made their way toward Cybertron. In part, this was to allow Shockwave enough time to clinch victory on the planet as well, but also to allow them adequate time to plan how the new government was going to be run by the time they arrived. If they showed up without a plan to enact, chaos would erupt and it would be difficult to establish their dominion once and for all.

Especially since they could not look to any current models of government for help. The Decepticons wanted nothing to do with the Senate or the league of Primes; they demanded a completely new government.

"_Starscream, meet me in the officer's conference room immediately."_

"Of course, Mighty Megatron," Starscream said out loud, rolling his optics. He commed Frenzy and Rumble to tell them to take a break while he started to make his way toward the room.

As he walked, he avoided drunk seekers and triplechangers, stunticons, and combaticons, and other unsavory mechs without distinction. Things had quickly descended into celebrations and nonstop victory speeches. He could only imagine what Cybertron would be like when they arrived.

He entered the room finding Megatron and Soundwave seated around the table. He went for his seat, despite both mechs having their eyes trained on him as he sat.

"Thank you Soundwave, that will be all."

Starscream glared at the Communications officer as he exited the premise. "That was particularly theatric. Can I ask what that was about?" He asked glibly.

Megatron narrowed his optics. "I was merely assessing our situation, and usually when I call, you take a particularly long time to get here. How many have you processed?"

"About 90% of them."

"Excellent. Tell me, how have they been?"

Starscream leaned back in his chair. "You mean, of course, how has Optimus been?"

Megatron scowled but said nothing.

"Well, they are in pain and quite confused to answer your question. But Optimus asked a couple of good questions earlier that I wanted to get your input on." He kicked his legs up on the table. "For one, why am I the only one who has interacted with the prisoners since the war ended?"

Megatron folded his arms. "I would not ruin the victory-high of other mechs by interacting with our fallen enemies."

Starscream laughed. "Oh but my happiness is naturally secondary. Well thank you for not being subtle."

"Starscream... I did not assign you to your post to torture you."

The seeker rolled his eyes. "I see. Then why?"

"For some reason, out of all my officers, out of all of my mechs, _you_ have discovered that which I've known for some time."

"You mean something beyond realizing your incompetence? Please, doll out my praises."

Megatron slammed his fist on the table leaving a huge dent in the metal. "I'm serious," He growled. The tyrant stood, walking over to the window that looked out at the dark void of space. He had his back to Starscream, which to the seeker meant that he was either heavily distracted or had literally gone insane. When do you ever put your back to one that has vowed to kill you?

To his credit though, the Second stayed seated and uncharacteristically silent.

"I saw it in your optics the megacycle Prime surrendered. Outwardly, you smiled and taunted our captives with the rest of them, but when no one was looking, your faceplates mirrored the same gravity I have felt since Prime broached the subject of ending the war."

Any trace of a smile was gone from the seeker's lips.

"You know what the end of the war means for us. Soundwave, Shockwave- none of them have realized it. The Decepticons have been war mechs for too long; in fact we prided ourselves on taking the unstable, chaotic minds and turning them into the Transformers of terror and mechs of unspeakable acts. Mechs of evil and no conscience, of bravery mingled with ineptitude, and of blatant disregard for society and morals that I cold mold into literal killing machines. And now, does that stop now that we have won? Can it? Can we stop that which we have created?"

Starscream rose and walked over to Megatron, standing beside him, if only to remind him of his presence. Megatron was no longer talking to him, he realized, but thinking aloud. It was unseemly.

"What did you _think_ would happen?"

Megatron stared out into space. "I never intended to get this far, this soon. I had hoped Prime would have put up more of a fight."

Starscream began to grow nervous. "Megatron..." He started, his voice low.

"The reason I placed you in charge of the prisoners is because I know somehow you have compartmentalized these issues much better than even I. You are far more adaptable than any mech in my army-"

Starscream ground his dentia. "Megatron will you stop-"

"I've always known this about you and I hoped that you would start to use it to wrest power from me now that the war is over-"

"STOP," Starscream spat. He was shaking. Megatron regarded the seeker with a distant look, only somewhat processing his Second's behavior.

"You are not a worthy opponent in your current state," Starscream said slowly. "You disgust me as a Decepticon and a mech. But I suppose all you've ever known is combat so when your need to fight is over, rather than use it to your advantage, you collapse in a slag heap," He whispered, angrily. "You need to get over yourself otherwise you will not only have a more chaotic problem with your _loyal_ followers, but a problem with uprising Autobots." The Seeker pointed his digit into Megatron's chassis, leaning menacingly close. "_You_ are now the ruler of Cybertron. Be despotic, be tyrannical, totalitarian, and oppressive or decide to be fair, judicial, balanced, and democratic; _you_ decide and they will follow you. To a point."

Starscream removed his servo and put his back to the glass window. "But I did realize the same thing you did. And the way you always control the simple-minded is by distraction."

Megatron folded his arms. "I'm listening."

"We had already decided to enslave our Autobot brethren, but take it a step further. Turn it into part of the economic system. Turn them into the lower class that you and the other low-born had been before the war. And find some way to make the war not over."

Megatron's optics glowed in the darkness. "Would they not want to rise like we did?"

Starscream smirked. "The difference being you would expect them to revolt. The Autobot's ultimate flaw was that they underestimated you. Even I, when I had returned from my exploration, believed their foolish propaganda that you and your followers were unorganized and brutish imbeciles. Only part of that was true," He said, walking back to his seat, smiling at himself.

Megatron clenched his fist. "I will take your plan under advisement. What do you plan to do, now that I am unworthy of usurping?" Megatron stated, his signature growl back in place.

Starscream smiled. All was as it should be. "I'll let you know once I've decided."


	2. The Lie

A/N: Thank you so much for the reviews! I really want to respond to them all, so I'm planning on making a livejournal where I can post my thanks and praises as well as post some alternate scenes (wink wink).

Aaaaand the favorite part. (My hilarious sarcasm presents itself). Did some research on the Teletraan 1 wiki and this what I came up with, I think it makes sense. Of course, I reserve the right to misuse it as well as you reserve the right to call me out on it. :P

* * *

Astrosecond: 1 second

Klik: 1 minute

Cycle: 1 hour

Megacycle: 1 day

Decacycle: 1 week, 10 megacycles

Orbital/Stellar/Solar Cycle: 1 year

Vorn: 83 years, more of an epochal unit ("All these vorns, I've waited for this).

* * *

Chapter 1: The Lie

Several Orbital Cycles (Years) Later.

Two Autocons walked home along the streets of Vos, looking nervously around every corner as they walked. It was past their curfew and without their Lords they were as good as slagged if they were found. It hadn't been their fault, they rehearsed. It was because the lines at the marketplace had been overrun with the Lordless because of the festival of Trypticon. Every merchant was required to donate 1% of their goods to the Lordless in order to promote generosity; often it gave the more sadistic mechs an opportunity at amusement by poisoning their donated supply. Even at the prospect of getting tainted goods, the Lordless swarmed the markets searching for the richest merchants to get the most out of the festival.

Of course, what that meant to those lucky enough to have Lords was that what should have taken barely a cycle took four, and the two nervous mechs had banded together to try to get to their Lords' estate as quickly as possible. So far the most menacing thing they had encountered were some particularly large turbo rats, but there was no saying what was around the next intersection.

"Lord Ramjet's estate is right after the next intersection; do you have much farther to go?" The small yellow one asked.

The slightly bigger white and red one took on a grave look. "N-no, I'll be fine," He said unconvincingly. The smaller one frowned with concern, but didn't press it. They turned around the next bend to find triplechanger sitting on the ground, drunk.

"Whet has ve gots hear?" He said, drawling his vowels. "Two leetle Laordlesssss lookeen for ah mastere?" The Decepticon began to rise from his position, unsuccessfully.

"We're not Lordless," The yellow one said taking a step back. He was frantically trying to reconfigure a quicker route to his Lord's estate in his mind, but he couldn't stop thinking of the rumors he'd heard about Autocons found outside their curfew. He cast a glance and his companion, who apparently had the same thoughts from the look of his faceplates.

"ReeaLy?" The Decepticon said, his head lolling with his words. "I'm nots sure ze authorities coulds tell the diiifference..." He said smiling. The little ones looked like they were about to flee.

"We g-got caught- eep!" The red and white one had begun, until the triplechanger moved with unprecedented speed towards him, grasping his neck with one clawed servo.

"Mmmm, yes you diiiddd..." The Decepticon purred. The yellow one started backing away when he bumped into another mech standing behind him.

"Ah, Blitzwing. Terrorizing someone else's property, I see," said Ramjet.

Blitzwing dropped the mech to ground, the Autocon clutching his neck and sputtering to get his fans slowed down.

"Mind zur own business, _conehead_," He spat, glaring at the other Decepticon.

"That is exactly what I am doing, slagheap. I'm collecting my business," he said, grabbing the arm of the little yellow one. "That one belongs to Thrust, and he wouldn't take kindly to you _stealing_." He motioned to the red and white one, and the Autocon did as instructed. "Primus, you are pathetic, Blitzwing. What happened to you?"

The triplechanger glared, absentmindedly rubbing the grime on his arms. "You haven't bin on ah recent campaign, has zu?" He said, leaning against the wall of the building he was favoring. By the look of the purge fluid and empty energon cubes, Ramjet surmised the Decepticon had been there a while.

"No, I have been dealing with my estate for the past few megacycles." He commed the gestalt patrol to come collect some slag he'd found in an alley.

"Zen you don't knooow, do you? Ze glitchmice are in the programming! When I saw tze microns gushing energon, ze light filled my optics whis ah great.............mhmmm." The triplechanger smiled, looking up at the small patch of night sky that he could see. "I has _seen_ ze gray smoke in from ze shells of Autoscum and it vas _glorious_ but the turborats knew! They _knew. _I am hungry.,,, feed me their oil..." He reached for the red and white one again, but Ramjet pulled out a small laser pistol from subspace.

"Primus, Blitzwing..."

After a few moments, two of a gestalt of Stunticons arrived to take Blitzwing away. One got him in stasis cuffs, while the other got a brief summary of the events. "Do you want to press charges, Lord Ramjet?"

Ramjet frowned. A charge like that could get Blitzwing put away for a long time. "Does he have any priors?" He asked looking at his old comrade-in-arms.

"Yes, several. Theft, breaking and entering, property damage, etc. Mostly to local estates."

Ramjet sighed. "I suppose I should. It'll be such an inconvenience..."

"Actually, my Lord, there is a new speedy complaint ordinance for just such an occasion. All you have to do is agree to press charges, and Sir Blitzwing will get the proper treatment for his illness."

"He has it then?"

"According to our scans, he does. Don't worry though, he can still bring himself around after the Program."

"Fine," he said, handing a chip to officer. The Enforcer scanned it and gave it back to the mech.

"Thank you for your time, my Lord," said the two members of the Enforcer gestalt said in unison. They escorted Blitzwing around the corner.

Bumblebee and Gears had been quiet during the ordeal, but now tensed as Ramjet turned on them. He slapped the yellow one. "THAT was an unpleasant experience for me, slave. DO NOT expect me to save your sorry frame later. As for _you_," He said, snarling onto Gears. "I do _not_ intend to escort you back to your estate, so you better get running." He smirked as the Autocon scrambled around the corner.

He grabbed Bumblebee's neck and flew up into the sky, the little yellow mech dangling and afraid to cycle a fan lest his master drop him. High in the air, he could see the divisions of estates made up of assembly fields and construction sites. Each was walled to keep their property in, and the lower classes out. Since Ramjet had been part of the Earth campaign and high enough ranking in the seeker division, he had secured himself a rather sizable estate within Vos. And with his large estate came a large amount of Autocons to run it.

He landed near the slave out-building where he dropped Bumblebee rather unceremoniously on the ground. He kicked the little one more out of spite rather than any true ill-will towards the mech. "Unload your subspace and get to recharge. You'll be punished later..." He said, almost cackling with pleasure when the little one whimpered and scampered off.

Life was truly good to be a Decepticon.

* * *

"There have been 42 new cases of ATD or Autocon Targeting Disorder, in the past week; that is a 2.3% increase from last decacycle. Many of them have found their way into Vos and Iacon, despite the multiple Enforcers gestalts on patrol there."

"Has there been any breakthroughs on the cause?" Starscream asked, clicking his digits on the table he was seated at.

"Only that it affects 1 in 8 Decepticons who return from the war abroad, so it might be attributed to what the humans call 'post-traumatic stress disorder,'" came the reply.

Starscream stopped clicking. "I'm surprised, Perceptor, that you would reference the humans as contributing to the search for a cure for our soldiers abroad."

Perceptor bowed his head, realizing his mistake.

Starscream sighed. "Continue."

"Other than that, my Lord, there is nothing I can surmise from the data so far."

Starscream nodded. "Send the findings to the council, with my approval." Starscream stretched his arms, his wings itching for the air. Yet Perceptor lingered.

"_What_ is it now?" Starscream practically whined.

"My Lord, recently a list of Autocons for sale came into my possession and I wondered if you would take a look-"

Starscream snatched the datapad away from his slave, not waiting for him to finish the sentence. He knew the mech merely wanted Starscream to buy one of his friends so that Perceptor could rest easier at night for the fate of one of his friends was at least known. The seeker was not known for his generosity, but lately he had become a little more distracted away from his estate, and his Autocons experienced relative autonomy.

Starscream looked at the list, not finding anyone of interest. Autocons were listed in order of primary profession, meaning what kind of contribution they would offer the estate that bought them. Usually, Starscream left such mundane tasks to his estate manager Blackout, who saw to it that all of the necessary positions were filled. Obviously Preceptor was trying to be _perceptive_ that Starscream was tired and might give him what he wanted over asking Blackout directly.

"I don't see any mech worthy of buying-" He started, then stopped. Perceptor swallowed.

Starscream brought the datapad down to his side. Of course it would be him. Of course. The stupid shuttle would continue to haunt him even into this new world. He shook his helm. "The answer is no. Not Skyfire. Get back to work."

Perceptor's face fell, but he didn't press it. He turned to go back to his quarters, and before he had even left the room, Starscream was on the balcony, gunning for the air and the freedom it held.


	3. The Flight

A/N: I have to tell you: the fans in this fandom rock. You guys have left me such great reviews that I've decided to go ahead and update! (Yea!) My updating is going to be rather frequent in the beginning, but then as the snow levels off, I'm afraid it will become a much more regulated and less often ordeal. I hate saying it, but it's going to be true. SO I overloaded (Does anyone else laugh at this word now when it's _out_ of the transformer context?) the chapters so that I we could feast in times of famine. Unfortunately, writing lesson plans for 10th graders takes precedence to writing about a crazy seeker.

Anyway, please continue to R&R! Some may have noticed that the rating changed: T is more appropriate for now, but it will definitely be M later.

* * *

Chapter 2: The Flight

More and more Starscream found himself up above Cybertron rather than down in it. He was really growing tired of the daily toil, the masquerade he was forced to lead for society's sake. He did a barrel-roll for old times, twisting among the terraformed clouds that the seekers had actually grown fond of during their Earth stay, so they implemented them here on their home planet. Starscream flew through one, elated by feeling of his sensors being tricked; what his optics saw and what his sensor net were telling him were not matching up, giving him a slight feeling of panic. Yet he relished in the sensation, chuckling softly as he remembered the first time he had taken seekers to the sky on Earth.

The clouds here had a soft orange tinge from the acid it collected from the planet's surface, but it wasn't enough to corrode a decent paint job. If anything, it buffed away the impurities on armor, leaving it particularly shiny after a heavy rainfall. Starscream banked left, twisting as he did so. If only he never had to land.

Of course, on this thought a rush of everything he had to still do before the megacycle was out came to his mind, causing his CPU fans to heat up in what could be compared to as a headache. He still had to do inspection of the energon caches on his estate, approve the new list of recruits for the war effort, and familiarize himself with a case between two Lords, specifically Skywarp and Thrust, about a slave who came home to the wrong estate after curfew. Starscream was High Lord of Vos, judge of the local disputes and with his other fellow High Lords, second only to Supreme Lord Megatron himself.

A small voice in his head laughed. He had always wanted to rule the Decepticons and now, even though he only controlled part of them, he found himself avoiding his duties. This time he chuckled out loud. It was the same during the war, so why should it not be now?

Suddenly his sensors picked up another seeker flying parallel to him, trying to catch up. Starscream didn't recognize the seeker, and didn't particularly feel like talking so he didn't hail. That seemed fine to the obsidian black and emerald green seeker. They flew together almost for the company, but Starscream quickly grew bored. He quickly banked left, spinning into a short dive, and then course corrected towards his estate.

Yet his long dormant fighter routines came online as he saw he was being pursued. He transformed into robot mode to look incredulously at the other seeker, but to his surprise the other barrel rolled when he saw Starscream look. Starscream grinned from ear to ear. In ancient seeker language and colloquially, that could only mean one thing.

Do you want to play?

Starscream happily transformed and blasted off toward the sky, twisting to gain more altitude quickly. His pursuer was right behind him, following his moves to try to close the distance between them. The red and white seeker almost laughed with glee. This guy was _good._

He started to go into a dive, using Cybertron's gravity to help him speed up. He allowed himself to fall into a flat spin, causing his trajectory to become less predictable. His companion shot down past him, intending to catch him when he crossed the black and green's path. Right before they would have collided, Starscream transformed, and gunned his engines. He shot off laterally, smirking as he knew he had taken his opponent by surprise.

The other jet course corrected, flying straight toward Starscream. The distance had widened dramatically, but he was quickly closing on the red and white seeker as the alt mode was almost always faster than the robot one. Just as his nosecone was about to graze the blue pede in front of him, Starscream lithely turned, causing the other jet to begin to overshot. Before he went too far, he transformed, in order to effectually break and stop.

In the split second they were both transformed, hovering in the air, Starscream took the other mech in. He was slightly bigger than himself, with dark faceplates like his own. If it weren't for his obviously more sophisticated flying style, Starscream thought he would have looked similar to Skywarp. Immediately, the stranger smiled and lunged for Starscream, attempting to grab a pede or a servo or anything he could get his servos on. Starscream laughed while turning off his jets. He fell straight down, staring up at the other seeker as he did so. The other one pursued and spun down, trying to get closer to Starscream. Starscream felt he had almost won since he was above his estate, so he laughed out loud.

Suddenly, the black seeker pulled a particularly aerobatic move: He twisted his frame around so that he was falling upside down, using his jets and gravity to speed him up and outpace Starscream. He went so fast that he overshot the surprised red and white seeker, ending up below him but in his path. He stopped by flipping in the air, hovering right below the falling seeker and then he caught him in his arms.

Starscream was more shocked by the move than by the fact that he had lost the game. It reminded him of someone, but he couldn't exactly place it. The other mech was laughing: a deep, boisterous laugh and despite his confusion, Starscream couldn't help but smile too. "You can put me down now," He said with only a trace of his signature malice.

The other seeker didn't seem to notice. "Ha, you're pretty good, flier. I didn't think I was going to catch you." He said while he gently let go of his quarry.

Starscream gave and indulgent smile. "For the record, I _let_ you catch me."

The seeker laughed even harder. Starscream felt he should be indignant, but smiled despite himself. "What do they call you, seeker?" Starscream asked, looking the other mech up and down.

"They call me Skyraider. I've been flying for nearly 15234 megacycles." He primped a little as he felt the optics look him over.

Starscream had almost forgotten the antiquated greeting seekers on Cybertron still used through the war. He had only really interacted with the seekers from the Earth campaign who were crass and irreverent, so this was refreshing. "I am Starscream, High Lord of Vos, and I've been flying for a lot more megacycles than you." He always hated explaining his age.

"My Lord, I did not know it was you," Skyraider replied, bowing graciously. Starscream smiled with approval.

"That was some particularly gifted flying you demonstrated. Were you not at the academy during the war?"

"You mean the Cybertron campaign? I am ashamed to say my family remained neutral until late into the war. Far after your instruction at the Seeker Academy..."

Starscream nodded. "I had wondered why I had not heard of you. Who did you train under when you did join?"

Skyraider paused. "Acid Storm and the other Rainmakers were head of the academy then, but I was instructed closely by Cloudraker, Primus save his spark," He said looking down.

Starscream decided to change the subject, "Well, it was a pleasure sparring with you. Would you like to come down for a drink?" He said sweetly.

Skyraider looked shocked. "This is _your_ estate? I've flown over here so often and admired it, I could not imagine that it belonged to you, my Lord!" Starscream's faceplates heated from pleasure at the compliment. The compliment was well-placed.

"I'm afraid I have to get back to my home, but thank you for the offer."

Starscream pouted a little, but shrugged. "Maybe next time then," He stated.

"Until then," The seeker said, bowing.

Starscream grinned. "Yes. Until then."

The seeker flew off, and Starscream watched him go, finding himself in a much better mood than before.


	4. The Hook

A/N: Hey readers, thanks for you reviews. 15 in so little time? I am extremely honored.

Here's the next chapter. I smirked at one of your reviews: The Autocons have not really been mistreated other than being enslaved... So far. Trust me, the Decepticons are sadists just as they were during the war; we're not _that_ AU, I promise. Still, there are other parts of the story to be told... So enjoy it for now, and I promise, there are surprises waiting in the wings.

* * *

Chapter 3: The Hook

Optimus looked over all of the datapads before him. They were never going to make their numbers if they continued to break every few cycles. Yet if he took away their breaks they would loose morale and be less efficient. He sighed in frustration.

"Hey bossman, you up there?"

"Yeah, Cliffjumper. What is it?"

"There's been an accident-"

Optimus could not get out of his chair fast enough. "Why didn't you comm me?" He cried, running towards the obvious signs of an explosion.

"I'm sorry boss, but my head is killing me. I think I got knocked in the blast too," Cliffjumper said, running along side of his former commander.

"We'll get Ratchet to look at it. Who is it? Move aside, move aside! Who is it?!" There was a large crowd of Autocons, trying to move debris out of the way to get at the fallen mech. Deep beneath fallen beams and rubble was Hound, sputtering from the dust that was kicked up. He was sparking from the side and coughing up energon.

"Hound? Hound, can you hear me?" Optimus said, trying to get at the mech.

"What is it?" Called Ransack, their foreman. A couple other foreman came running in when they saw a crowd of Autocons standing around.

Optimus spoke up. "There's been an accident; we need to get him to Rachet immediately."

Ransack leaned over. "It doesn't look _that_ bad..."

"Well _you_ can explain that to Megatron when he dies and he makes _you_ take his place," Optimus spat, cradling the passed out Autocon in his arms.

Ransack rolled his eyes. "Fine, slave, you and that one come with me to Rachet. The rest of you, BACK TO WORK! Clean this mess up." He beckoned to Cliffjumper and Optimus who carried Hound as best they could around the rubble towards the medical outbuilding.

Cliffjumper bounded up to Ransack and started chattering. "Hey do you mind if I get myself checked out too? I really got clocked in the head back there and I think my comm is out."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever."

"I mean I really don't want to be a bother but I really think it is important to get checked out..." He continued to talk incessantly about next to nothing, distracting the foreman.

Optimus leaned down to Hound. "That looked like it hurt," He whispered.

"Naw, it looks worse than it is."

"Good. Do you remember the message?"

"Yeah, yeah, meeting at 0400 tomorrow morning. Man, I'm glad we take turns taking trips to the medical wing. I am not liking this sparking feeling."

Optimus smiled under his face mask and leaned out, as they approached the medical office. It was once a great hospital of Iacon, but now it was Megatron's personal slave treatment center.

"What happened?" Rachet said worriedly as he started to take Hound's vitals. Realizing it was a routine message delivery, he made a bigger show of taking a long time to do everything to purposefully piss Ransack off.

"There was an accident-"

"When will he be able to work?" Came a voice from the doorway. In walked Megatron, escorted by two guards. Ransack immediately bowed his head, whereas Cliffjumper, Optimus and Rachet were required to bow at the waist. Optimus was a fraction slower to do so than his former comrades-in-arms, a gesture that was not lost on Megatron.

Rachet cleared his vocalizer. "I sincerely think he should be off his feet-" At the use of the human term, the Decepticons all tensed. Any reference to the humans was considered akin to mentioning slag. Almost in rebellion the Autocons had taken to using the human terms when talking to each other; even the ones that had not been on the Earth campaign had caught on. Ransack looked to his leader, who inclined his head. The foreman pulled out an energy whip and hit the medical Autocon twice for using such language not only around Decepticons, but around Megatron himself.

"Continue," Megatron said, glancing at Optimus and grinning at his expression.

"...T-thank you my Lord." Rachet said, smarting. "He should not go back to work for at least another megacycle."

Megatron cocked his head. "Come now, Doctor. I really think you underestimate the resiliency of the Autocon frame. He should be back to work within a cycle."

"My Lord, there is no way-"

"Half a cycle then. Don't be so modest about your skills!" He smiled, and his guards chuckled darkly as well.

"...It shall be done, my Lord."

"Good. Ransack, you may take the little one back to his post. I think I might talk with my slave here for a little while..." He said, beckoning Optimus out the door. The former Prime followed, giving one last look to Rachet before he left.

Megatron looked to his guards. "One of you will stay posted here, the other will go and attend to Lord Starscream who has just unceremoniously informed me of his arrival and his impatience at having to wait." The guards looked at each other and silently argued who was going to have _that_ honor. Once they had left, Megatron turned to look at his slave.

"It's been a long time since we talked last, slave. How are things?"

Optimus glared at Megatron but said nothing.

"Mmm, the same as always. Tell me, will you be able to make your numbers this evening?"

Optimus sighed. "My... Lord, you know there was just an accident. That will put production behind at least a megacycle..."

"But you still expect me to give you liberty tonight, even when you have not met my conditions? You know that is not how this is played, Optimus."

"We couldn't foresee having this accident! They are making mistakes _because_ we haven't had liberty in so long. They are growing restless, my Lord," He ground out. "We will continue to fall behind."

"Then I suggest you stop having accidents," Megatron growled, turning his back on Optimus. The Autocon was about to argue with the statement, but realized it meant that Megatron knew that most of the accidents were staged. Somehow, he always knew. It was a wonder Starscream _ever_ pulled off a scheme if Megatron's awareness now was any indication. Thankfully, Megatron didn't elaborate on just how much he knew, and Optimus didn't press it to figure out _how_ or _when_ he had figured it out. Though tactically it might have been better, Optimus didn't want to jeopardize that night's plans by trying to glean more information from these uncommon meetings with the Supreme Lord of the Decpticons.

They continued to walk towards the main building on the estate: the former Iacon tower. Now it looked like a corrupted version of itself; blackened where once white, harsh where once smooth, and treacherous where once inviting. Megatron had smelting pools put in around it to remind of him of Kaon where he had originally wanted to put his capital, but decided instead to convert Iacon into his private domain.

"Ah, Starscream. So glad you came to visit us," He said, waving off the guard. Starscream bowed impatiently.

"Do you know how long I've been waiting?!" He screeched, his voice echoing in the huge hall that used to be the foyer to the senate. Now it led to Megatron's throne room, and it too had been recently redecorated.

"Hopefully long enough to get you upset enough to say something foolish," Megatron replied, smirking.

Starscream was about to say something but thought better of it. It was then he noticed Optimus. "What's _he_ doing here?" He said disdainfully.

"I was allowing him the pleasure of my company. To what do I owe the extreme honor?"

Starscream glared at the sarcasm. "You obviously haven't heard from Kalis either, then?"

"I talked to Soundwave but last decacycle."

"Yes, well I tried to contact him today about a...resident of his, and it seems that communications are down. I found it highly _ironic_ that you gave the position to Soundwave in the hopes that he would prevent such a course of events. Obviously you were quite mistaken."

Megatron narrowed his optics and walked up to Starscream. He kept his back deliberately on Optimus so that the Autocon could not hear the rest of the conversation. While they talked, Optimus noticed that Starscream was particularly fidgety, probably because despite the high ceiling and walls, they were still beneath a large amount of concrete, metal and stone. Perhaps not an ideal location for a seeker; but knowing Megatron and their relationship, that might have been the point.

He also noticed that each of the four doorways to the foyer had two guards on it. That seemed like more guards than he had counted last time he had come through, which meant that Megatron must be nervous about something.

Megatron turned around, as if noticing that Optimus was still there. "Like what I've done with the place?" He said, his fanged dentia flashing in the low light.

"Not really," He answered truthfully.

Megatron and Starscream started walking out of the foyer toward the throneroom, and Optimus thought he finally had a chance to get away. Megatron however wouldn't allow it. He beckoned him to follow behind them. Megatron did this more often these megacycles almost to annoy him by keeping him away from the other Autocons. It was not lost on him the strangeness of Megatron not only keeping him alive, but giving him such a place of authority over the other Autocons. Then there were times like this when he knew it was just Megatron playing mind games.

"I heard that Thundercracker and that femme are expecting," Megatron said, walking up to the throne.

Starscream snorted. "I never liked that match, either. But I suppose out of all of us, it would be Thundercracker to fall in love with an Autocon."

"He always was a bit eccentric, wasn't he?" Megatron said, indicating the energon cubes to Optimus that he would serve them.

Starscream laughed now. "That is putting it quite _cleverly_, Mighty Megatron. But I suppose that is one way to perpetuate the Decepticon forces."

Optimus served the cubes. "Aren't you afraid the Autocon will _corrupt_ him, my Lords?"

Starscream wrinkled his nose when Optimus spoke. Megatron just gave him an indulgent smile. "Why of course she will, Optimus. That is why we took special precautions before allowing the union."

Starscream frowned a little.

"What do you mean precautions?"

"He means, _slave_, we altered her before we would allow the union. Thundercracker wasn't too pleased, but he must of gotten over it by now."

"Altered...?" Optimus's optics went wide.

"I believe you Autocons are fans of the human terms, so let me help: Does lobotomized mean anything to you?"

The former Prime dropped the cube he was holding. He absentmindedly pulled a buffing cloth from subspace and began to wipe it up.

Megatron laughed at his slave, but Starscream couldn't bring himself to do so, even though he knew Megatron expected it. The Supreme High Lord looked sideways at his Second, surprised by the lack of mirth from one just as sadistic as he. "What's wrong Starscream, photovoltaic cat got your glossa?"

The seeker shook his head. "I've been inside for too long; I'm afraid I really must dash." Megatron narrowed his optics.

"I thought you delighted in getting a rise out of slaves; don't tell me you've gone soft," His optics flashed dangerously at the thought.

"Hardly, mi'lord. I merely grow bored of this one's company, especially since you are so _lax_ with him. I came here to see evidence of the iron fist you rule with and I find you allow your slaves to talk out of turn," Starscream said, theatrically stifling a yawn.

"Ah, well Optimus is _special_, Starscream. Escort him out, slave. And Starscream: remember what we talked about."

The seeker glared at Megatron and stomped out, barely waiting for Optimus to catch up. They walked out in silence, navigating the corridors that led back to the landing pad that had been installed for the flight-capable. As they stepped out into the open air, Starscream visibly relaxed, flexing his wing joints. Before he shot off, he turned to Optimus.

"She wanted it, you know."

Optimus looked blankly at the Lord. "What do you mean?"

"I mean she wanted the alteration. She really did love Thundercracker, but she knew that as his bondmate, she couldn't be trusted as an Autocon. She suggested it."

Optimus looked towards the orange clouds in the distance. "Why are you telling me this?" He asked without looking at the seeker.

"Because Thundercracker has changed into a soft-spark, and I wanted you to know for future reference," He stated quietly. "The rest of us might be damned, but he's at least partly redeemable." With that, the seeker transformed and flew off.

Optimus watched Starscream as he left. That mech was always playing some elaborate game of chess, three or four steps ahead of everyone else. Starscream seemed to be alluded to a day when the Autocons once again became Autobots, and he was looking out for a former comrade-at-arms? Did he know something Optimus, Megatron, and even Primus it seemed, did not know? He shook his head. Such mind games.

He walked back to the factory, pleased to see that the accident had been cleared up. When he arrived at his office, he slowly opened the door and practically collapsed into his chair. He spun around and checked his messages, one from Megatron himself. He scanned it and at the bottom it said, "Upon further review, Autocons will be granted liberty from 1800-0500 hours." Optimus immediately commed everyone, keeping the message as simple as possible, knowing that all frequencies were being monitored. He smiled as he felt behind his helm. Now all he had to do was teach everyone how to use the GPS removal device they had smuggled from Wheeljack in Vos, and they could meet in relative secrecy: the first time since they had become slaves years earlier.

It bothered him that Megatron seemed to know that some of the accidents were not in fact accidents, rather premeditated diversions. But he was tired of acting cautiously.


	5. The Line

A/N: Here's the next update and it should answer some great questions you guys have raised. I realize I have been vague AND I haven't made the updates big enough to answer questions that you would naturally have. Having a few questions unanswered is healthy though, right? ;)

I'll probably update later today given that I write a lot of today to get a bigger buffer zone for when I have to go back to teaching.

Feel free to message me questions, I'll get back to you as soon as I can.

* * *

Chapter 3: The Line

Starscream flew back from Iacon, not exactly in the most efficient fashion, as he flew over Kalis. All seemed well, but he didn't feel like landing to confirm it for sure, especially since he wasn't ordered to or would have anyone watch him do it.

As he flew he chuckled. He just _happened_ to be flying over Kalis, and he just _happened_ to be constantly checking the horizons for a stray black seeker. He had done some checking up on his friend Skyraider, discovering he was part of small formally neutral community in Kalis. Soundwave was not known to be generous towards his tenants, so maybe he could convince him that there were a spot on his staff that needed a gifted seeker.

He nearly giggled at himself. Skyraider was such a delicious distraction from his troubles, it was almost Primus-inspired.

Yet no black dot gave it away so he turned towards his estate, slightly disappointed.

* * *

Optimus quickly removed his GPS tracking beacon on the back of his neck using the anti-magnet that Wheeljack had rigged up. He attached it to a turbo rat they had caught earlier that megacycle for just this occasion. According to the "network," as they called themselves, Wheeljack and others on Starscream's estate were not as tightly handled as those estates in Iacon, so Wheeljack had time enough to make some for the Autocons on Megatron's estate. The network consisted of Lordless Autocons who chose near-starvation to help the cause instead of begging to join an estate.

Of course, the Decepticons had not been foolish as to _who_ could become Lordless. None of the former Autobot command, for example, were given that priviledge; and if a Decepticon wanted you on their estate, as an Autocon, you had no choice. Therefore the network consisted of espionage amateurs who unfortunately got themselves caught just as often as they succeeded. But when they hit home, they hit big.

Cliffjumper met Optimus outside his quarters. "They're ready, Prime." Both smiled at the use of the title, as that had been one of the first things outlawed by the Decepticons. Optimus carried his turbo rat, and Cliffjumper his to a small pen in the center of the main common room in their quarters. Since's Hound's injuries we not quite healed, he and a few other Autocons had the honor of walking the turbo rats so that it would look to the guards as if they really were going out to use their liberty. Optimus walked out of the estate, unaccosted by the guards who were in their own quarters.

This was the closest he had ever been to being free. He had a small thought dancing in the back of his mind of never coming back, but he knew Megatron would tear Cybertron apart _again_ if he lost his pet. No telling who he would hurt this time to get what he wanted. And ultimately it would be a hollow victory since there was no place they could go; even the wastelands were occupied by Decepticons who found it homey.

So he knew the plan was to try to get off planet. Everyone, even the Decepticons, knew about the group of Autobot rebels led by Rodimus Prime still existed off world. And, according to papers put out by the Decepticon presses, Rodimus was doing pretty well. The Decepticons had to continually send soldiers abroad to deal with the annoyance, and silently the Autocons cheered that they still had hope off-world. So tonight, the hope was that by going around the rules and regulations they had dealt with for orbital cycles would spurn the desire and will to follow through with the plan.

He could see it in their eyes: they were tired. All of them were tracked from place to place with a GPS tracker that made it so they couldn't purge fluid without knowing some Decepticon was keeping tabs. Many of them had permanent stasis-cuffs that prevented them from using a component of their makeup; for instance, he was told that both Sunny and Sides had one of their legs permanently in stasis in retribution for years of "jet judo." Even small things: energon was rationed so much that if you were not around for meal times, you didn't get fed for the whole day. They had changed their names from "Autobots" to "Autocons" further messing with their identity. Even the term "Lordless" was a mind game: it basically implied you were nothing except if you had a Lord to control your every movement, when in reality the Lordless were the most free on the planet. It had always bothered Optimus that Megatron had allowed that class to even form since it did not jive with his "iron fist" reputation.

He and Cliffjumper arrived at the small Lordless shelter that had been set up out of Megatron's good will. It had been littered with video cameras, recorders, bugs, sensors, and the works. It had taken the Lordless explicit instructions on how to find each one and almost a whole orbital cycle before the others could trust that it was a safe meeting place. When Optimus entered, they closed the door and lit a small fluorescent glow light, powered by gathered energy from the Iaconian power plant (another of Wheeljack's inventions smuggled out and replicated by the network).

The Autocons grew silent as they saw Optimus enter. Even though many of them saw him every day at Megatron's estate, they suddenly saw him differently here. And Optimus felt differently. He pulled himself up and addressed his people.

"Autobots, it has been too long that we have toiled under our captors. Ours is a collective history of enslavement and uprising; this is just one of those cycles. Our plan is to make contact with Rodimus, and then get off planet. From there we will negotiate the release of the the rest of the Autobot forces. We need ideas."

A Lordless raised his hand. "We could poison the energon?"

"We need _good_ ideas, fragger. If we poison it, what will we drink?" Cliffjumper said scathingly.

"Sorry, _slave,_" The mech said back. Cliffjumper nearly jumped out of his frame to get at the mech, but he was held back by the mechs around him.

"That's enough," Optimus said, massaging his nose bridge. He had the worst headache. "The more we separate ourselves, the more we allow the Decepticon dominion over us. We were all Autobots, we are still Autobots, and we will all be Autobots again."

Rachet cleared his vocalizer. "We need to also think about a better form of communication, not that I don't mind seeing you all who come to visit me," He said smiling, eliciting smiles from several Autobots in the room.

"Well we figured out how to get around the GPS tracking device. Could we get around the monitoring on our comms?" A Lordless said.

"I think maybe we should consider looking for alternate modes. Maybe an encrypted datapad?" Rachet said, catching Optimus's eye.

"Yeah! Primus knows we pass those around all the time with instructions for the day. We could get away with that."

"The level of hacking required is beyond our abilities," Optimus said.

"Well, Prowl and Jazz were the some of the better hackers, right?" Cliffjumper said.

"I doubt they are together, _and_ I doubt they are even in Iacon," Rachet said sighing. "They've kept us so separated, I didn't have a chance to tell you. No high-ranking Autobots are on the same estate, or even the same region. I found out because I needed to know where donors of parts were since I am the authority now on Autocon frames."

They talked more, deciding they needed to continue to garner information. In the meantime, they came up with a small code to help them talk in the open about things. They talked about the weather for communication, they mourned the deaths of the Witwicky's to say there was going to be a meeting, and various other key phrases to help them talk without really talking.

They left two at a time at random intervals so as not to give the whole group away. As their numbers whittled down, Optimus went over and sat down by Rachet. "We met far too easily," Rachet said, watching as Cliffjumper and another Autocon started their brisk walk back to the estate.

Optimus snorted. "Then I guess it's a good thing that we didn't accomplish anything." Rachet looked at the former Prime.

"I certainly hope you aren't letting the others see this Pessimus Prime," He said, smiling broadly at his joke.

Optimus rolled his eyes, but smiled beneath his face mask. "Give it time, Optimus. Iacon wasn't built in a megacycle."

"It was certainly destroyed in one."

Rachet sighed. "Even so, time is our only weapon. They will grow complacent, and they will forget that we too can start an uprising."

"It just feels like I've been spinning my wheels with the same problems for orbital cycles, and the only thing I have to show for it are detrimental ways to send messages and a meeting where we talked about how we have to have more meetings."

"It will be hard, Prime. The Decepticons remember only too well their own enslavement, and from what I understand of their army makeup, serving in the Decepticon forces was akin to forced labor. They'll be slow to give up the power."

Optimus shook his head. They were so _backwards_.

"Do we have forces in Kalis? Apparently the city-state's communications are down from unknown causes."

"Where did you hear this?" Rachet asked, excitedly.

"Straight from the screeching one's mouth," He said wryly.

"We'll have to investigate that," Rachet said, smiling.

They got up and got ready to walk back to Megatron's estate. They bid farewell to the Lordless, thanking them for allowing them to meet there. They replied that it was all they could do to help, they would gladly do more.


	6. The Sinker

Much thanks to Skywarped for a little push.

Sorry about the absence: Student teaching was a lot harder than I thought it would be. It often makes me wonder how some of my teachers in high school ever made it through it... But then again, I had a hell of a supervisor.

**WARNING:** This next chapter includes implied slash. But there aren't many femmes around. Flames should be sent here: be spammed msn . com (spaces taken out)

Chapter 4: The Sinker

"My Lord, are you... alright?" Came a distressed Perceptor as he saw Starscream stagger in from the landing pad.

"Of _course_ I'm alright, imbecile," He said, slurring his speech. Perceptor could smell the spiked energon from across the room.

"My Lord, you know you shouldn't drink and fly at the same time..."

Starscream paused and laughed hollowly, falling against the wall and then to the ground. Perceptor went to help him, but then stayed where he was. His Lord was particularly unpredictable when over-energized.

"Yes I know that, thank you so much for your..._concern_," He said, cocking his head at the last word.

That screamed danger. Perceptor took a step back.

Starscream smiled. "If you don't want to do it, get me someone to help me up," He said shortly.

Perceptor didn't have to be told twice. He ran and woke up Silverbolt, whose quarters were the closest. The former Aerialbot got up and followed Perceptor into the foyer where Starscream had managed to find more high-grade in a cabinet in the corner. Perceptor stayed near the door, as Silverbolt took a few steps closer to the Decepticon. Starscream swayed on his pedes, but continued to mix a drink, hopelessly spilling it everywhere except in the waiting cube.

"My Lord, have you not had enough?" He asked, carefully.

Starscream paused what he was doing, and turned slowly towards the mech. The look on his face was blank. "...Why yes. I believe I have... Thank you Silverbolt. Thank you for trying to _order me around_!" He screeched, jumping with surprising agility onto the winged mech.

Perceptor cried out, but was frozen by terror. Starscream ripped into the wings of his slave, slashing his face plates and chassis as well. Silverbolt was so shocked by the turn that he did nothing for the first few kliks then tried to restrain the infuriated seeker, without much success.

Starscream just got more angry. With one servo he grabbed the mech's neck, attempting to strangle him, while with his other servo he pinned the mech's hand to the ground.

Perceptor saw the murderous intent in Starscream's optics, as well as the grimace on his face as he lifted Silverbolt's neck and threw it back down to further bash his helm. The smaller scientist finally regained his senses and ran to get Blackout.

Starscream dimly noticed the energon all over his servos and felt that he should go take a bath. When he realized he was still choking his slave, he stopped, pulling back. He regarded Silverbolt with abstract fascination and confusion. He hadn't meant to go that far.

Silverbolt started sputtering and coughing to try to regulate his intakes. Most of his wounds were superficial, but they nonetheless hurt. He glanced at Starscream who was still straddling him and giving him a strange look, as if he had just noticed he was there. He thought he was expecting an apology so he coughed to try to clear his vocalizer. "My Lord, I apologize-"

Starscream stopped him by bringing his mouthplates over his, hungerly kissing him. Silverbolt was completely stalled by his confusion. Before he could even process what was happening, it was over and Starscream had rolled off of him and sat beside him on the floor.

The seeker had a far away look in his red optics, regarding his handiwork with a mixture of disgust and absolute dumfoundedness. Silverbolt attempted to sit up on his elbows to look at his master.

Blackout, Perceptor and a few guards ran into this scene. While beating a slave was not unheard of or illegal, most Decepticons liked to protect their investments. Starscream was obviously drunk, so it probably meant that if he was sober he might not want to _kill_ his slave. Of course no one tried to guess what Starscream's intentions ever were.

A medical Autocon went to Silverbolt, eying his master as he did so. When Starscream didn't move, he began to see to Silverbolt's wounds. One particularly bad one on his wing would need further attention in the medical wing of the estate. Blackout walked in and over to Starscream. "What do you want, my Lord?" He said quietly and patiently. Starscream might want more energon, despite it being ill-advised, or he might want to start sobering up. By the look of him, his random act of violence seemed to have sobered him pretty quickly.

Starscream stared at the bot he had just attacked, and he glanced at Perceptor. He looked back at Silverbolt. "Get him out of here."

"Gladly, mi'lord," Blackout said, getting everyone to lift the large Aerialbot off the ground. As they exited through the doorway, Blackout leaned over to Perceptor. "Stay with him," He whispered. Perceptor was about to protest but the room had already been vacated save himself, Starscream, and the energon stains on the ground.

Starscream stared at the stains with an unreadable look. Perceptor felt extremely uncomfortable, but didn't dare to say anything.

"This looks like ATD," Starscream said quietly without looking up.

Perceptor's optics went wide. It did. "N-no my Lord! You are, um, inebriated and he did defy you-"

Starscream looked up. "I didn't purchase you for your terrible lies, _idiot_. You are a scientist first and foremost: Be objective."

The Autocon closed his optics. "If I didn't know your personality, my Lord, and I didn't factor the energon in-"

"Then it would be a open and shut case," Starscream said, absentmindedly starting to chew on the end of his thumb digit.

"It doesn't fit with the pattern, Lord... You haven't recently been on a war campaign."

Starscream nodded. "Life is a war campaign," He said cryptically. "Get me to my washroom," He said, attempting to stand. Perceptor dutifully went to him and propped him up, leading him towards Starscream's quarters.

Perceptor leaned Starscream against the wall and ran in to turn on the water to get it warmed up. When he came back out he found Starscream staring at his clawed servo, covered in Silverbolt's energon. He'd killed thousands of mechs, mauled plenty more. Yet this attack was different. He clenched his servo and tried to walk into the running water, but his pedes were not cooperating. Perceptor knew Starscream usually bathed alone, but the Autocon took it upon himself to begin to scrub the grime off of his Lord. Starscream seemed surprised at first and then allowed it without a second thought.

If this truly was ATD as they had named it, it was only a matter of time before Starscream descended into babbling madness like the rest of the pathetic sparks that he sent through the Program. He had to come up with a way to slow down the process, or find a cure quickly. Maybe he should purchase Skyfire: With himself, Perceptor and Skyfire working on the problem, the greatest minds Cybertron had to offer, perhaps they could come up with a cure. He leaned his helm against the tiled wall.

Of course then he would _really_ be distracted.

Perceptor turned off the water when Starscream was free of the energon stains, yet the seeker did not move right away. Perceptor was afraid the Decepticon had fallen into recharge right there, and he groaned inwardly as he thought about trying to get Starscream into his berth. The seeker was decidedly bigger than he could manage by himself.

But Starscream started to move towards the door and Perceptor quickly propped him up to aide him to his berth. Starscream fell into recharge as soon as he was in the berth, as Perceptor dimmed the lights and wiped down the washroom of any further energon. The one thing he had found he and his master had in common was that they both desired cleanliness, so Perceptor actually enjoyed his work sometimes.

Being Starscream's personal slave was an extremely lonely position since he could not talk to anyone about what had happened in order to process it better. There were times when they got into scientific discussions that he felt mentally stimulated and content, but then Starscream would do something so violent and unpredictable that would lead them into a similar situation.

It was only a matter of time before Perceptor would bear the brunt of an attack, and he knew he would not survive it. He prayed to Primus that Starscream would reconsider acquiring Skyfire; it had to be the only thing that would save him.

* * *

"So how's the weather today?" Hound enthusiastically asked Cliffjumper as they pounded out the metal that was going to go to Kaon to help rebuild Kolkular and the rest of the gladiatorial arenas.

"Not so good," Cliffjumper said, shaking his helm. "There are all kinds of electrical storms on the way." Meaning public punishments. Every once in a while, Megatron televised the punishments of his Autocons in order to give other Lords ideas on how to discipline their own slaves. Some morbid Autocons always saw it as the "Food Network" for their sadistic masters.

"When do you think it will clear up?" He asked as he measured the flatness of the sheet.

"There's no saying," He said, which also meant they couldn't talk at that moment because of an approaching guard. Hound frowned as he went back to work. There wasn't a whole lot of talk period these megacycles because of all of the preparations going into the grand opening of the new Maximo Memorial Arena in Kaon, where on the battlefield Autocons and Decepticons were equal contenders. Learning from history, Megatron had decreed that none of the combatants would ever be armed with any weapon, ever. And to prevent the Autocons from using their improving war-like skills against their masters, once you entered a gladiatorial game you were injected with nanobots who's sole purpose was to destroy the con they inhabited with the flick of a switch. They could also merely immobilize them, or take control over their frames.

Trypticon, in his less city-sized form, was holding a grand opening and honoring Megatron, former gladiator star, with a series of games to advertise the entertainment. He was inviting all of the High Lords to come for free, only having to pay the cost of tickets for their entourage. With Kalis's communications finally working again, Soundwave had respectfully declined, sending his Casseticons in his stead. Straxus of Polyhex, Shockwave of Tarn, and Starscream of Vos had all accepted the invitation, each bringing at least half a dozen Autocons and guards in tow.

The games were open to all who could afford it; naturally he charged more for the Lordless that practically none of them could afford it, and he gave a slightly less fee to the Decepticon Lords, vassals, and knights who had come back from the war. Everyone was talking about the games, and even the Autocons were getting excited about getting the break they would have during the games. Even a decacycle away, preparations for it still continued through the megacycle.

Eventually, Trypticon planned to make a series of arenas and provide a huge battle park that would not only be the envy of the other city-states, but the galaxy as well.

Optimus rose from his chair in his office after he had received a comm from Megatron for the daily inspection of the factory. Megatron used to do this weekly, but since the preponderance of accidents he had started to make his presence all the more known. The power to the factory shut down making _sure_ that any "random" accidents that might be planned had no power to supply them. Optimus opened the door to the factory, bowing lowly as Megatron walked in, flanked by three guards.

"How goes production, Autocon?" Megatron asked derisively.

Optimus kept his face blank, but wanted to bite the Decepticon's face plate off. "Well, mi'lord; it goes well. We are ahead in all areas of production, including High Lord Tyrpticon's order."

"Excellent," Megatron said simply. He started to walk up and down the aisles, checking lever settings and visible wire connections. "Everything appears to be in order-"

Just as the Decepticon overlord was about to finish his sentence, a faint, but audible boom shook the metallic walls of the factory. Immediately, Megatron had the dim look in his optics as he received incoming comm messages. Without a word, he and his guards left the premises without even bothering to close the door behind them. Optimus stood where he was and glanced at Cliffjumper. Then, almost at the same time, all of the Autocons rushed to the door to try and hear Megatron barking orders at his Decepticon subordinates.

"Fly to Kalis immediately, I expect status reports as soon as you get there. Ascertain how big the force is and quell it _now_," He said, turning his back as at least five Decepticons transformed and traveled to Kalis. Two more followed him as he quickly dictated orders and they walked briskly into the main tower.

Across the open yard, Rachet leaned out of the doorway to the medical wing. He caught Optimus's optic smiling. Optimus turned to Cliffjumper, saying "Weather looks better. Maybe we should have that memorial service for the Witwicky's we had always planned."

Cliffjumper smirked despite himself. "You got it bossbot."


	7. The Dispute

A/N: Got another update for you. Still haven't caught up to what I've been writing recently, so another update is in the works. Many of you have been very patient with my story threads, and I'm trying to reward some of that by giving you something to chew on.

Please R & R! And if you want to know where I am going or if you have a question about the plot, please message me. This is meant to rather twisty.

Chapter 6: The Dispute

Starscream woke with a splitting helmache. He blinked his unfocused optics as he laid out on his berth, still contemplating the night's events. Starscream, seeker of the skies, Prince of Vos... had a degenerative mental disorder. Somehow this did not add up when he strung together his list of accolades. And the irony of his assignment to find a cure only to find himself similarly yoked was not lost on him, but he wasn't laughing. He walked into his washroom as he listened to his several backed up comm messages.

Blackout: "Mi'lord you'll be pleased to know that Silverbolt experienced little to no extensive injuries and will be back to work tomorrow. Might I suggest that next time you want to (DELETED)

Perceptor: "My Lord, I don't mean to bother you but I wanted to inform you that you have the civil dispute between your tenants Skywap and Thrust is today in less than three megacycles (DELETED)

Perceptor: "My Lord, the civil dispute is in two and a half megacycles (DELETED)

Preceptor: "Lord, in two (DELETED)

Perceptor: "Lord (DELETED)

Perceptor: (DELETED)

Megatron: (DELETED) (RETRIEVED) (PRIVATE FREQUENCY) When you finally decide to get your aft up, you'll be pleased to hear that our plan for Kalis is continuing on schedule.

END OF NEW MESSAGES.

Starscream polished his armor, primping in the mirror. He felt _cleaner_ at least, but not necessarily better. He stared at his reflection. _When will it happen?_ He wondered. When will I start killing?

He went out into the hallway, walking briskly towards the foyer where he heard the startling familiar sounds of two seekers arguing.

"...And if your cone wasn't so shoved up your_ aft_ I think you might actually hear what I'm asking!"

Starscream smirked as he walked into the foyer where four of his former soldiers stood bickering. "Where's Dirge? We could have a complete reunion," He said snarkily, folding his arms. A distressed Perceptor melted into relief when he saw his master. Thundercracker and Ramjet too looked happy to see their Air Commander take control: Skywarp and Thrust were about to start tearing at each other's necks.

"Dirge is aiding Lord Trypticon with the arena construction," Ramjet offered. Starscream's faceplates darkened slightly. Since when did _they_ work together?

"Let's go into the conference room, shall we?" Starscream asked, without really asking. Skywarp and Thrust has stopped their shouting match only so long as to relocate.

"Alright, Lords. I see you both have brought the necessary seconds, and to no surprise you've kept it within the trines," He smirked. "Skywarp is the accuser: you may begin your account, and the accused _will_ remain silent," He said growling.

Silverbolt came in to serve some energon. Starscream managed to remain impassive. Blackout _would_ send him in out of all the other slaves. He'd consider getting a new estate manager, but sometimes it was better to have a mech close to you that you knew you couldn't trust completely rather than have one surprise you.

Skywarp cleared his vocalizer. "Three megacycles ago, my guards told me that there was a mech who didn't belong to me in my Autocon commons. The slave had not only snuck onto my property, but recharged in a slave berth _and_ consumed an allotment of energon before he was discovered. At which point my guards disposed of him."

He looked to Thrust. "And I suppose the slave belongs to you."

"Yes mi'lord. But Ramjet can explain more than I can." Starscream waved a servo for him to start.

"Four megacycles ago I was alerted by my guards that my personal Autocon had not returned from the market. I checked his tracking signal and found that he was paused at an intersection. I went myself to check it out because I was curious: Slaves had been disappearing around that area for some time. When I arrived I found my slave and Thrust's being diverted by a drunken and mad Blitzwing."

Starscream became quite more interested in the proceedings. "And he was attacking them?" He said, seeing Perceptor move out of the corner of his optic. The scientist was searching a record on the data pad. When he had found the necessary information, he handed it to Starscream who snatched it from his servo.

"No, my Lord, but I think he was about to. He had Thrust's Autocon by the neck. I intervened and had to hold him at gunpoint until the proper authorities arrived."

Starscream had been looking at the data pad. Blitzwing had indeed been incarcerated and inducted into the Program that same night.

"And what happened next?"

"I escorted my Autocon back to my estate, and told the other one to get back to his estate by himself. Obviously he had gone to the wrong one."

"Because of extreme duress?"

"Exactly."

"And I suppose you are counter-suing for the loss of your Autocon, am I correct?" He said looking at Thrust, who nodded.

Starscream sighed. His tenants were idiots, but it wasn't as if they had all of a sudden become that way. "To summarize, Skywarp lost one night's worth of energy for a slave, as well as some pride that his guards did not realize they had a strange bot in their midst." Skywarp immediately began to deflate. "And Thrust lost an Autocon of little to no worth-"

"As well as his goods from the market," Thrust hastily added.

Starscream smiled dangerously. "Of _course._ Well, gentlemechs, I need no time to deliberate: I already know what my answer is going to be." His face twisted into a frown. "You _both_ lost an equal share so I consider all debts paid in full. And I might add this is the third such waste of time you aftholes have brought me in the past orbital cycle. There will not be a fourth." He pinched he bridge of his nose to help ease his helmache. "I suggest you two get over whatever rivalry or hatred you have for each other because your estates are _right next to each other_. You are going to see a lot of each other. Get over it. You're dismissed."

Starscream rose, as did the rest of the seekers. Thundercracker attempted to break the icy silence with a joke, and Ramjet caught on, but Thrust and Skywarp were still staring energy daggers into each other. Starscream bid farewell and went to the Autocon commons to do his long overdue inspection of the energon cache's they had.

Perceptor hastily followed without saying a word. Starscream walked so fast. "We need to interview Blitzwing before he goes into stage three of the Program," He said, telling his Autocon like he would tell a secretary. And in a way that is what Perceptor was.

"He's scheduled to phase into that stage tonight, my Lord," He said quietly.

Starscream made an annoyed sound. He couldn't exactly stall the phasing of the Program without raising suspicion of his fellow scientist, Shockwave, so he would have to interview the triplechanger that afternoon.

"Inform the facility of my arrival this afternoon, and that I specifically want to interview Blitzwing for a case study," He said just as he was about to enter the energon storage facility.

There he found Wheeljack tinkering away at some machine in the center of the room. He seemed to not notice the new presence.

"_What_ exactly are you doing?" Starscream said scathingly. He glared his optics at the mech, searching for the nearest guard. There didn't happen to be one there at the moment.

Wheeljack jumped but didn't look nervous. "I'm sorry my Lord, I was merely making the energon storage units more efficient," He stated simply, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Starscream open and closed his servos in a fist. A small voice in the back of his mind laughed: You accuse _Megatron_ of being lax with his Autocons? He felt his optic start to twitch.

"And who authorized such a procedure?" He said, grinding his dentals.

"Oh, you did, Lord. It was a while back but I could show you the data pad..." Wheeljack said, smiling. Perceptor shook his head trying to warn the inventor. Why did no one else see how dangerous Starscream was?

Starscream straightened his back. "I highly doubt I approved you to work _alone_," He said, pinging a guard. Something was amiss here.

"Oh, no no no, my Lord, of course not. A guard was just in here but got called away to the main quarters to watch the other Lords and make sure they left in due course."

Starscream smiled. "Oh of _course_," He said, leaning his back to the wall. Perceptor stopped cycling his intakes. He caught Wheeljack's optics and slightly shook his head again. Still, Wheeljack kept up an affable ignorance.

"I just came from there. There was no new guards approaching the area."

Wheeljack shrugged. "Guess they took a different way."

"Quite."

Wheeljack took a seat on the ground. "Why, of all places, did you take such an interest in the energon cache's all of a sudden, oh screaming one?"

The seeker smiled wickedly. The inventor knew he was caught, hence the lack of pretense. Starscream admired that amount of courage since _he_ probably would have continued to lie and beg straight through. "I will admit I have been neglectful of my estate. But surely you might have guessed there was another purpose?"

Wheeljack frowned. "I'm afraid I don't follow."

"Not really surprising to me. I'm afraid you're going away for a long time, slave."

Wheeljack tensed. "Only if I don't rip your wings off first," He said, still in his conversational tone.

The seeker didn't even twitch. This megacycle just kept getting better and better. "Before I beat you senseless, what exactly are you doing?"

Wheeljack crouched. "You're a scientist, you can figure it out." He grabbed rather large wrench and spun it in his hand. "Perceptor, I suggest you get out of the way."

Starscream laughed. "You know, I really don't have time for this."

"Well, either way, I'm gonna get locked up, so I might as well make use of the time I have."

Starscream sighed. "Very well then," He said. He lazily got into a close-quarters fighting stance. The seeker wasn't pleased with the situation as he was inside, cramped, and there was tons of unrefined, volatile energon laying around. That meant his null-rays and his biggest asset of flight were out of the question, at least from a distance. But at least he still had control: ATD definitely wasn't rearing its ugly head as of yet.

"What are you going to do, claw my face off?" Wheeljack said, starting to try and circle the jet. Starscream frowned a little bit. The mock was close to the mark since he was otherwise at the disadvantage.

He feinted a lunge, and Wheeljack clearly over-reacted. Starscream then lunged on the other side, hitting the inventor in the helm. Wheeljack fell back and wiped a little bit of energon from his mouth. "That all you got, _screech_?" He said, chuckling.

Starscream rubbed his servo. "That's all I needed." Guards burst out of the door, quickly grabbing Wheeljack and subduing him. The inventor struggled as he was dragged out, taking the moment to snarl at Starscream.

"You couldn't beat me in a fair fight, you _fragging skidplate_!" He said, trying to kick his pede into the seeker's helm.

Starscream smirked and pulled back out of range. "Just put him in stasis lock; I'll deal with him later," He said, walking around the machine in the middle of the room. The guards hauled the inventor out, leaving Starscream and Perceptor in the energon storage. "Naturally... you didn't have anything to do with this?" Starscream asked, giving a glance at the Autocon in the corner.

"No, my Lord," He said quietly, wringing his hands.

Starscream paused his inspection. "You alright, slave?" He said, raising an optic-brow.

Perceptor nodded. "I'm j-just, uhh..." Perceptor was cycling his intakes at an abnormal rate.

Starscream just stared. "I didn't kill him: I spent a lot of cubes on him to have him killed. At least we know I'm still in some kind of control."

"But when..." Perceptor took a big breath. "But you might not be able... and what if it's..." The Autocon leaned against the wall since his legs were threatening to give out.

Starscream shut his optics. This was turning out to be the megacycle from the Pit. "Stay here and deal with this thing and I will get a full report from you later," The seeker said, walking out of the facility. Perceptor took a deep breath, then he frantically ran to the door after the jet.

"My Lord, are you sure you don't need me?"

Starscream turned on his engines. "Perceptor, I need you to deal with that box. If it explodes, it's your head, not mine," He yelled, gunning his thrusters. He shot into the air, transforming as he went without a second glance. Perceptor watched him leave, finally finding that his intakes were going back to normal. It wasn't so much that he was afraid Wheeljack would be dead, though anything of that nature didn't exactly thrill him. Strangely enough, Starscream had shown... compassion? Is that what it was? He wasn't sure since he was still shaking from being that close to a deranged Decepticon. Surely it was just Starscream losing it that caused his lapse in consistency.

A cruel, heartless seeker Perceptor could deal with. But inconstant Starscream was scaring the Pit out of him.


	8. The Truth

A/N: Thanks to my reviewers. I think we finally have enough meat to this story that it is actually getting interesting ;) I have this annoying habit of throwing in too much dialogue, which makes for a great _play_ but not always a great _story_. I think I edited enough so that it should be okay. I really liked this chapter, and I've been sitting on it for a while, so I hope you _also _enjoy it. If not, then again, let me know. If you like it, let me know. Whatever, just let me know.

Next update will be a special treat for you guys. It's at 5,000 words right now and it keeps expanding (it's double what I usually update to). It's a little dalliance into Thundercracker's life, but Starscream is still rather present. Again, let me know what you think. I really, really appreciate the readers and the reviewers. Warm fuzzies for everyone.

The Truth

The seeker circled towards the large, circular building known as the Veterans of Recent Campaigns or VORC Building. Really, it was a not so secret cover for Starscream and his fellow scientists to observe and diagnose veteran Decepticons who seem to have developed ATD. All the Decepticons knew it for what it really was, and they pitied the mech who got sent there.

Part of the "treatment" was something they called the Program. Each step was meant to give the mechs the opportunity to turn their mind around through therapy in a constructive environment to prepare them for the new world the Decepticon's lived in. Naturally, its real purpose was not nearly so sentimental. Each step lead the mech closer to memory erasure and reformatting, the only way that the scientists hard at work had discovered to deal with the problem. Or at least send it back under the micro-fiber rug where it came from.

Blitzwing would be in stage two, probably being prepped for stage three: Memory erasure. Starscream wanted to see what kinds of things the mech knew and whether he had any awareness left to be able to tell. The seeker walked right in, being recognized immediately by the staff. Mostly it was run by former neutrals and a few low-level Decepticons from the war who knew Starscream by reputation, and didn't really want to get to know if the reputation was correct. "I'm here to see the Stage Two Veterans," He said as loudly as possible. A rather sniveling mech nodded in compliance, taking the lead and beckoning him to follow.

_His alt is probably a human tricycle_, He thought.

On the thought of humans, he remembered Perceptor and his little display earlier and his own reaction. Had he been too soft? Spoiled the child by sparing the rod sort of deal? The microscope-alt really looked like he was about to faint and the fight hadn't even been that bad. Starscream had assumed it had been because he didn't want to see the idiot inventor get the tar beaten out of him, or worse. The little scientist had seemed distant since the night before and its little fiasco. Or maybe he was scared that Starscream was going to get hurt? Now that was a laughable thought. All of his slaves hated him.

They walked down the hall, bearing a right at the end. The mech punched in a code that led them down another hallway. Starscream could hear the Level One Veterans in their cells down one armored wing: they were hard to miss.

Upon being diagnosed with ATD (and let's face it, it wasn't hard to be diagnosed with it), the Level Ones were brought to facilities throughout Cybertron that would begin their processing. Some could be released back into society for a short period before they became unmanageable. However, there were always relapses. And when their relapses were violent and uncontrollable that they threatened Autocons, Decepticons and Lordless alike, they ended up at VORC.

When the disorder first surfaced, Megatron was amused and let it turn into some bedlam in sectors. Starscream didn't concern himself with the problem either; but when he heard the reports he started to sleep with his null-rays at half charge in case he needed to ward off some marauding ATD-controlled idiot. But it quickly became more of a nuisance. Megatron was displeased that his subjects were becoming blabbering imbeciles (or more than they were before) and his dominion over the planet wavered whenever crazed Decepticons wiped out entire estates: Autocons and Decepticons alike.

Starscream had come to such an estate during an investigation and had seen the damage left by three ATD mechs. He had been surprised by the amount of strength the 'cons had shown in ripping the limbs off the Autocons and eating their sparks while they still pulsed. They had gouged out the optics of their victims, frenzied by the pooling energon, and had opened the CPU of one to scrape their claw components inside. There was evidence that they had done this one at a time, letting the others watch before they turned their attentions to the others.

After that, they had found the overseer and the owner. Their torture and dismemberment seemed only to get worse as they went through the estate.

Megatron had tried to harness the ATD mechs and use them in domination of campaigns abroad, but the ATDs would somehow make it back to Cybertron and continue to kill. He had thrown the problem to the mech he figured out would seek the best answer to save the society even it was purely out of self-preservation, i.e. Starscream.

Level Ones were the worst, and when they got to Level Two they were so drugged up that they were docile enough to be controlled. Starscream and his guide walked through the various door safeguards and walked into the main wing that led to the Level Twos. The mech paused at the last door. "Shall I leave you, my Lord? Or is there something I could do...?"

Starscream rolled his optics. The coward didn't want to go in.

"I'm doing a case study of Level Twos with certain drug make-ups. I'm going to need a private room to evaluate the... patient. Set that up."

The mech nodded emphatically and turned pede and left. Starscream entered a code and walked in.

The first thing that hit him was the smell. Transformers were not known for their olfactory senses since they weren't necessary in a smog and other noxious fumed planet. But sometimes they were alerted when something was amiss. It smelled like a mix of bleach and stale energon was used to wipe up purge fluids. Knowing the staff that worked here, it was probably true.

Next he noticed the black walls with dim, purple lighting. Shockwave and the rest of his more psychologically-minded researchers had discovered that Decepticon nationalism seemed to soothe or at least minimize outbursts of violence among patients. Pictures of Megatron and stencils of the Decepticon logo adorned the place. It seemed the pictures of himself Starscream had added had been quietly removed.

Once his optics adjusted to the dimmed light, he noticed the patients themselves. They were quiet, hulking figures hunched in various parts of the commons. Some sat and watched war reels from the Earth campaign, while others sat with optics dimmed, looking at nothing.

He nodded to an orderly in the corner. The mech inclined his head and continued to observe the room.

Starscream found Blitzwing lounging in a corner. He seemed much more animated than his compatriots were, but he still was quiet.

"Ahh, it's my favorite Seeker come to observe us science experiments," He intoned as Starscream walked toward him.

Starscream slowed his tracks slightly, taking a moment to observe the mechs around him as he was suddenly aware of how many of them there were. Blitzwing chuckled softly. "Don't worry. They can't hear me. They never do."

Starscream folded his arms in front of the triple-changer. "You seem to be avoiding your medicine."

"If I can help it, yah, I do. But it always took Hook longer to anesthetize me anyway, so he used to stop trying as well. Military rationing and all. Plus it's done wonders for my annoying accent."

Starscream regarded the mech warily. This was basically a latent Level One. "Right. I came to do a short interview of a Level Two under a certain drug make-up. But if you haven't been taking your medicine..."

Blitzwing stood up and started walking towards the doorway. "Come on Air Commander. We both know you came here for me, so stop the pretense."

Someone laughed darkly. Starscream spun around and searched the mechs, but he could not find the offending party. It crossed his mind that maybe someone wasn't nearly as docile as they let on. The seeker followed the triple-changer out of the room, indicating a room to the left that had been prepared for their interview.

Blitzwing sat unceremoniously in the chair. Starscream was decidedly slower and watched the mech across the table warily.

"I was wondering when you would show up," the purple mech said.

Starscream feigned indifference. "You were expecting me?"

Blitzwing shrugged. "It wasn't hard to figure out that I don't belong here."

Starscream narrowed his optics. "What do you mean?"

"I mean I'm not a low infantryman. Obviously there has been a mistake. Go ahead and get me released."

Starscream slowly nodded. "I will. When I heard you had been committed I knew there had been a mistake."

Blitzwing flashed a smile. "Liar." Blitzwing leaned back in the chair, staring back at the seeker. "You must be pretty desperate to not have brought a guard in with you."

Starscream stared blankly back at Blitzwing. It was almost like he was following Starscream's thought progression. A creeping panic started to make its way up Starscream's spine. It would take at least five seconds to get out of the chair and to the door, but by that time, Blitzwing could have snapped his neck with ATD's renewed strength.

"If I remember correctly, your lying used to be a lot better."

Starscream smirked. "I'll admit, you caught me at my worst. I didn't expect you to be so lucid."

"Mmm. Life is full of unfulfilled expectations."

Starscream cocked his head. This was getting nowhere fast. "When did you start to notice this new 'state?'"

Blitzwing turned his head to the corner of the room as if looking there for the even itself. "I woke up one morning with an itch. And I really wanted some energon. A few decacycles later, when my Autocon brought me some, I tore off his servos for not being fast enough." He laughed derisively. "I don't remember doing that, but it seemed normal.

"Three decacycles later my account had been maxed. I couldn't buy any more Autocons."

Starscream leaned back as the realization set in. "You killed all of your Autocons."

"Yah. And by the end, I didn't even realize how many until I couldn't buy any more."

"Why? I mean, a slave isn't cheap. At least the ones you had."

"And once they were all gone, I lost my estate to debts. I figured the only way I could contain myself was the campaign. And it worked. For a while."

"You didn't answer my question."

Blitzwing smiled again. "Fair's fair. You didn't answer mine."

Starscream knitted his brow plates. He quickly rescanned the conversation he was recording. "What do you mean? You haven't asked a question."

"Oh. I thought it was obvious. Why are there only red eyes?"

Starscream leaned forward as if he hadn't heard. "What?" he said quietly.

"The turborats knew. But then again, they always know. Thinks are quick to fall apart and I _know _I said _thinks_ and not _things_. But I still haven't figured out _why_. Whhhyyy. Whhy haz you ccooomm hheire? Ze glitchmice are in the programming, but only if zu louek hard enoughs. I am still hungry... Have you seen him yet?"

Starscream had started to charge his null-rays to stun, when the question hit him like the sound barrier. "W-what?" He said pathetically.

"Has you started to see him? I want some oil. Or maybe your energon would do nicely." He had cocked his head appraisingly.

Starscream stood out of his chair, nearly tripping over it as he backed to the door. He desperately commed a guard. Blitzwing just sat still and calmly folded his hands on the table, still looking hungry. "See you soon," he said, singsong.

Starscream left without an escort, without saying one word to the staff.

* * *

"M-my lord, you are b-back." Perceptor said meeting his master on the landing pad. "Y-you have a v-vistor."

Starscream shot the scientist and annoying look. "What's wrong with your vocalizer?"

"I th-think it is temporary, my Lord. I promise to have it fixed."

"Where is he?" he said quickly buffing his null-rays. They took on a dull shine whenever he warmed them up. A detail that Perceptor did not ignore.

"He's in the lounge, Lord."

Shockwave was waiting for him, lounging on a chair in the main receiving room. "I hadn't intended on waiting so long," he said.

Starscream bristled. Of all the mechs, it had to be him. "I would have set aside more time for you had I known you were coming," he scoffed. He went over to the energon cabinet to mix himself a drink. While his back was to Shockwave, he quickly tried to figure out why the mech was here. Did he find out about the interview with Blitzwing? _Already_? Or maybe he had heard about his altercation with Silverbolt and he came to "check up on him."

"Drink?" He said, quickly downing his own.

Shockwave put up a servo. "I'm quite energized."

Starscream began to mix another, which did not escape the attention of Shockwave's optic. "To what do I owe the _honor_ of your visit?" Starscream said as bored as possible.

"I sent you a message, albeit an indirect one, and I had wondered why you had not responded."

Starscream took a sip of his cube. He turned around and had a genuine look of confusion on his face. "Care to condescend?"

Shockwave's optic smiled. In this manner, he was just like Soundwave: if you knew him, you'd understand the minutiae of his facial expression held a wealth of information about his emotions. The one-optic mechs weren't as void of emotion as one would think.

"I came into possessing a slave that I thought you would jump at the opportunity to own, but you never sent an offer." Starscream tensed. He had come to _gloat_?

"I have plenty of other scientists in my possession; what's one more to me?" He said unconvincingly. He was handling this very poorly. The interaction with Blitzwing had frayed his nerves more than he had realized.

Shockwave ignored the response, almost to benefit them both. "And I have had plenty of offers," He said slyly.

"Yes well forgive me for not jumping at the opportunity to take your second servo goods."

Shockwave shook his head, while sighing. "I've barely touched him," He said. "Well, barely might not be the right word..." He added as an afterthought.

Starscream froze. He was about to lose it, and Shockwave had done it so easily, _effortlessly_. Shockwave suddenly got very close, but Starscream didn't move. Shockwave quietly wrapped his servo around the seeker's; he hadn't realized it had been shaking. Of course, now the gunformer wouldn't release him.

Starscream dropped all attempts at control. "How much do you want for him?" He asked without looking at the huge, yellow optic staring right at his faceplates.

"10,000 cubes," Shockwave said simply, as if it was some paltry sum.

Under normal circumstances, Starscream would have laughed. "7,000." He replied. Still an outrageous sum for a slave.

Shockwave squeezed his caught servo. "How about 9,999 cubes?" Starscream gave the gunformer an annoyed look. Starscream had already lost the battle, but the reparations were huge. _Primus, he is going to scrap later._

"Why do I think this isn't about energon?" The seeker asked quietly. Shockwave smiled wider, or at least what could be considered a smile. He squeezed the caught servo one more time then released it, much to the happiness of the red and white seeker. He walked over to a couch and stretched out, indicating that Starscream should do the same.

Starscream put down his drink and started to rub his hand. Shockwave had nearly dented it with his antics. He slowly walked over to a chair near the couch and sat, never taking his optics off of Shockwave. The gunformer's optic looked amused.

"Naturally, you have enough to pay me," He started. Starscream didn't dignify that with a response. Of _course_ he did.

"But you are intuitive enough to realize I have another purpose for torturing you." How inelegantly blunt, Starscream thought. "The truth is, I'm worried about you. Just orbital cycles ago, pulling a stunt with an Autocon I know you're interested in would have you at my throat, but this megacycle you merely allow your hand to shake."

Starscream regarded Shockwave carefully. There was a reason Megatron had kept him on Cybertron, and not all of it had to do with his military strategy. Much of it had to do with the fact that he played mind games for his own perverse pleasure rather than towards any kind of ambition. At least, that's what Starscream liked to believe.

"Why such restraint?" The gunformer cocked his head.

Starscream sighed. He weighed his options. He could lie, but since he had already done _such_ a good job at that so far, he thought maybe a better approach would work. Okay, so say he told the truth: He didn't want to go over the edge. Could he trust that Shockwave would try to do just that? Would Shockwave then try to push his buttons? He answered that question in the biggest sweep of affirmative. So if he knew Shockwave's ambition, could he not limit it somehow? Starscream decided he had to try. This would get Shockwave to stop snooping around searching for the real reason, and it could help him in the long run... somehow.

So he opted for truth. Surprise surprise.

"Because two evenings ago I attacked my slave with little provocation. I nearly ripped his spark out with my servos," He said, matter-of-factly. He immediately felt that he had chosen the right course of action since Shockwave suddenly became very wary. He had miscalculated Starscream's next move.

"And you're worried-"

"That it is ATD. The stupid acronym for when Decepticons start to lose their minds, referring back to their basic programming of 'maim and destroy any and all Autobots and eventually any mech.'"

Shockwave was silent for a moment. Starscream had been the highest ranking Decepticon to exhibit the disorder; it had previously been thought that only the lower ranks were affected. Starscream could almost hear the Shockwave's CPU fan overheating. "Have you told-"

"No one. My Autocon Perceptor knows only because of how closely he's been working on the project."

Shockwave leaned back, not even realizing he had started to lean forward. He sighed deeply. Under different circumstances, this would have been good news. But unfortunately, Starscream was integral to Megatron's plan to subvert the Autocon's pathetic attempts to rise. So Starscream's sanity was actually a necessary ingredient.

"I would be the first in line of many of your rivals to lock you up," He said slowly. "But because of your rank, your closeness to the project for a cure, and your integral relationship to Megatron's plans, I can't do that." He glared at the seeker for putting him in this situation. "How far gone are you?"

"It took quite a bit of energon to get where I was before, but as far as I know that was the first sign of it."

Shockwave nodded. "The onset then. You still have several decacycles before you start babbling the tell-tale signs of madness. Until then, you should avoid high-grade or at least overenergizing on it." Starscream didn't exactly jump to comply.

Shockwave paused, regarding his rival. "If this happens to you, then it could literally happen to anyone. As much as I wanted to see you _squirm_ to get him, I think I am just going to give you Skyfire with the understanding that you will work on a cure without any unnecessary distractions. I think you are well-motivated," He said, drawing back. He then rose, about to head for the door.

Starscream rose too, but didn't follow. "How do I know I can trust you?" He said, folding his arms. "I've just given you my weakness, and you are going to try to help me cover it up."

Shockwave stopped right before the door. Without turning he replied, "I will help you as long as you are useful to Megatron. You'll just have to trust me."

Starscream followed. _I don't trust _myself, he thought. They walked into the foyer where Skyfire waited patiently. Perceptor entered right behind his master and Shockwave, his optics lighting up when he saw Skyfire.

"Skyfire, you now belong to High Lord Starscream. I expect you fulfill your obligation to him as you did to me," He said, not resisting the urge to further dig into Starscream, however light the jest may be. Shockwave probably thought that his teasing time was limited, Starscream intuited wryly.

Shockwave turned to Starscream. "And if you need anything, _anything_, don't hesitate to call."

Starscream smiled sweetly. "I suppose I could always count on you if the time comes." Shockwave's optic danced at the double meaning.

Shockwave nodded and left without another word.

Starscream stared after him for more than a few kliks. Perceptor and Skyfire looked at each other with confused faceplates: That was one of the strangest interactions they had ever seen, especially given the mechs's history. Skyfire looked back to his new master. He couldn't help but see a hint of sadness in the seeker's expression.

"Perceptor, show Skyfire around the premises. I will be in the lab; report there when you are finished," Starscream barked. The two Autocons had flinched when the change of mood came almost as quickly as a light switch gives light. The seeker left them heading for the lab, without even giving the two scientists a look around.

Skyfire followed the chattering Perceptor who seemed absolutely elated to see the Autocon scientist on the property. The hulking shuttle smiled at his smaller friend's behavior, but in the back of his mind he saw Starscream, and his lack of welcome and sad expression on his faceplate.


	9. The Life and Death of Hydraspark

A/N: Uhh. Holy crap. This is 9,852 words. . Don't go expecting this often.

This is practically a story within itself, and I hope you enjoy it. I'm not a huge fan of OCs, and this is the most delving into one I've ever done. But I got enough comments about this femme I just lobotomized that I thought she deserved some story. And I am quick to serve. ;)

So this is a special, starting off early and then catching up to present. It offers a different view on the estate system and how Thundercracker deals with it. And Starscream's looming suspicions.

* * *

I'll also tell you that I ran the story by my 12 y.o. brother and he begged me to change it. However, in the end of all things, I think you'll see this was a necessary turn. And I think it's sad. Really sad.

* * *

But because of this, you might have to wait at least a day or two before the next update. Chew on it slowly!

Special: The Life and Death of Mrs. Thundercracker

Hydraspark stood on the platform as Decepticons swelled around her and the other various platforms holding their own mechs and femmes. All she could really see were the red glow from the Decepticon optics as they appraised her and the other Autocons that had been recently captured.

A metal bolt was attached to the back of her head. She could still feel a hot sting from where they had installed it and she dimly wondered if there would be any permanent damage. Hydraspark remembered vaguely being captured, them installing the bolt and then ending up here. But there was definitely a period where she could not remember what had gone on.

She felt the collective sigh that every Autobot (or Autocon as they were now called; talk about insult to injury) gave when they saw the mass of Decepticons pulsing with movement. This was not how it was supposed to be. Optimus Prime was to lead them to a guiltless victory in which the evils of the Decepticon race would be silenced. Forever.

But when they had heard about his defeat on Earth, a large genocide of ¾ of the human race, and the enslavement of the captured Autobots, it was almost laughable. That was absurd. There was no way that was even remotely true. The Decepticons were not that well organized, were they?

No one, save a crazy Decepticon, was laughing now. She felt like she was covered in grime even though they had all been _rigorously_ cleaned before the show.

"LOT #151623. STARTING AT 2,000,000 CUBES," boomed the announcement. She felt like the ceiling was getting lower, but much of Decepticon architecture seemed like it was underground. A femme next to her starting crying, her tears causing the mechs around her to become all the more animated about buying her. They threw lewd jeers at her and scrambled over one another to get a good look at her faceplate, almost _enjoying_ her suffering- akin to if they were drinking a good batch of energon. When one tried to touch her, a energy whip came out of the ceiling to slap him on the servo. An opening in the ceiling revealed about twenty security mechs, all watching and waiting for any overly excited Decepticon to make a wrong move. _Primus_ she thought. They don't even trust each other. When the offending one yelped and pulled back, he was roughly thrown to the back by his would be comrades-at-arms.

She seemed to be in less demand than the femme next to her, but even so, they received much more attention than the mechs. Her alt was a Panhard VBL [Véhicule Blindé Léger ("Light armoured vehicle")], which was essentially an amphibious ATV. It wasn't nearly as sleek or curvy as the crying-femme's silver Porsche Boxster. She herself was a flashy cyan and green, with shoulder rivets that usually held a large arsenal of armor-piercing rounds. Of course, they had been unceremoniously removed. She heard a lot of mechs remark that she probably looked a lot like Hound, whom she had never met, but it sounded like it was both a good thing and a bad thing depending on the mech.

This is disgusting, she thought.

And just as she thought it, her eyes caught with a blue and white seeker. He wasn't smirking or leering, he was just _there_. She stared at him, willing him to do something- anything to make him real and not a figment of her imagination. When she willed it, he obeyed. His eyes dimmed slightly with the sending of a comm message.

Hyrdraspark was suddenly torn off the pedestal and roughly guided towards an estate transport. She sat next to the tear-stained femme and regarded her with tired eyes. She wanted to comfort the poor thing but her arms and servos remained at her side. She felt really gross again. Hydraspark avoided the optics of the other Autocons sitting next to and across from her in the narrow cargo hold and tried to focus on something else by looking out into the milling crowd.

She didn't know any of the Autocons she was now being sold with. They ranged from mechs to femmes, younglings to geriatric mechs who had retired from battle many vorns ago. They were completely a mix, which she thought vaguely was very odd. She had heard that, usually, their new Decepticon lords had taste and preferences that you could guess from the makeup of the Autocons they bought.

There she saw him again, standing like a sentry before his protected. At least, that is how she saw him. She almost smiled at her own indulgent fantasy.

A mech started waving a datapad emphatically at the blue and white mech. It wasn't until he got closer that she heard.

"...sorry Lord Thundercracker. There seems to be some kind of problem put on your account..."

"What kind of problem?" he said, his hands on his sides.

"It seems you have maxed out your Autocon allotment for your estate. You can't buy anymore, my lord."

"This is ridiculous. Check it again."

"I've already checked twice and the result will not change-"

"But yet you've already processed my cubes, right? So you'll take my cubes _and _my Autocons then resell them? What kind of an establishment is this?"

"Sir, this is a _Decepticon_ establishment."

"How could I forget," Thundercracker fumed.

They were interrupted by a third mech, holding a practically empty high-grade cube. "What seems to be the matter?"

The establishment mech nearly fell on the floor when he saw the identity of the new seeker. "M-my High Lord Starscream! I had no idea you were here!"

The name seemed to ripple through the Autocons.

Thundercracker rolled his eyes. "He says I've maxed out my Autocon allotment." Starscream grabbed the data pad from the other mech and looked over it while sipping energon.

Starscream chuckled and clicked the data pad. The record was amended. "See? There's no problem."

"Of course my Lords, of course. Anything I can get for you? Any_one_?" Thundercracker was glowering. Starscream laughed again.

"I could use more high-grade." He handed his cube to the waiting mech. The third mech bowed and walked off muttering something (quietly) about impertinent seekers.

Thundercracker was bristling. To Starscream he seemed he was about to snap.

"Your account says you have over one hundred-"

"Stop- just stop." Thundercracker looked down at his pedes, bristling in anger.

Starscream raised an eyebrow-ridge in amusement. He looked over the Autocons in the hold with indifference. "What, are you starting a zoo?" He said smirking.

Thundercracker sighed. "What- what are you doing?" The blue one said as Starscream got into the ship and started to look at the Autocons. He went to each one, looking in their optics, but none of them could rise to meet his. When he neared Hydraspark she pulled away, though she too couldn't really go anywhere.

"I'm trying to see what you would forsake the Decepticon high command _and_ your trine for. And I'm a little over-energized, but I just can't see it."

Thundercracker glared.

"Oh stop glaring. _Buying_ into the system is just as bad as _inventing_ it. Your moral superiority is alienating you from those that could _help _you."

"I don't need your help. I'm fine without you."

Starscream sat down next to an Autocon. The mech couldn't lean far enough away. Just to annoy him, Starscream put an arm around him like they were friends sitting in a park.

"So you've replaced Skywarp and myself with a bunch of scared, useless Autocons that you have decided you're 'saving.'"

Thundercracker softened. "Is that really what Skywarp thinks?" Starscream didn't flinch at the indirect slap, but his optic did twitch a little. Thundercracker had seemed neutral about the new economic system, but it wasn't until lately that he was openly hostile to Starscream for inventing it. He had shut himself in his estate and there were rumors that he had completely let his Autocons run without any regulations. Starscream always tried to 'run into him' at functions such as this sale, but Thundercracker was rather random concerning his public appearances.

"Yes, Thundercracker. That is exactly what he thinks. And he keeps coming over to my estate to tell me all about it since he doesn't have _you_ to unload on."

Thundercracker sat down opposite the red seeker.

Starscream sighed. "I can't let you buy anymore."

Thundercracker tensed again. "And why the Pit not?"

Starscream removed his arm from the Autocon. He folded his arms and crossed his legs, trying to phrase his next sentence carefully because it could easily come to blows. "I know you don't care what I think. But you _should_ care what the other High Lords think. They think you have gone soft, that you have betrayed the Decepticon cause for our former enemies."

Thundercracker relaxed again. "It's not like that."

"Then tell me what it is like, because Pit, Thundercracker, we haven't had a civil conversation in almost ten decacycles."

Thundercracker sighed. "It was mostly because of your superior attitude that we always ended up fighting."

Starscream stretched his neck joints. "We weren't talking about me, however interesting that subject may be."

Thundercracker paused for a long time. Starscream could see his face clouding over with concentration but he remained silent. "When the war ended..." He began. "I thought all of these useless, petty politicking maneuvers were over. Most knew I hated the war and interpreted it as me trying to protect the fleshies. But that's not all of it. I think that all life has value."

Starscream couldn't help but snort derisively. "I'm sorry but _this_ coming from a soldier is hard to hear."

"Who better to hear it from? I have taken many lives during this war and I know what it is let them live. So after the war I stopped pretending. Isn't that what we were fighting for? The ability to be ourselves?"

Starscream smiled sadly. "You know it's never that simple."

"I'm not undermining the Decepticon cause. I'm not building an army of Autocons to fight back. I prefer to think of it as a sanctuary. And it's not just that I have bought these slaves to protect them from other owners. I've heard about ATD."

Fragging ATD. Anywhere and everywhere he went. Thundercracker was no doubt referring to the Decepticons who, after killing everyone on their own estates, infiltrated and felled Autocons and Decepticons alike inside other estates. Thundercracker had a similar view of the situation as Starscream. Starscream had upped his security himself on his own estate, but it wasn't really for the protection of his Autocons.

Starscream stopped smiling. "Fine, Thundercracker. _I_ understand. But not everyone else will, so you have to start playing along or else you'll drag down Skywarp and myself with you."

Thundercracker nodded. "I understand."

At that, Starscream stood to meet the establishment mech who was bringing back a full cube. He took the cube and raised it once to Thundercracker then took a long sip. He then turned pede and fell back in step with the milling crowd.

Thundercracker commed the transport ship that they were ready to get moving.

Hydraspark was helped out of the transport ship by Skydive, former Aerialbot second in command. He was smiling, welcoming everyone in a quiet and calm voice. He gently took Hydraspark and put a device to the back of her neck. The bolt fell to the floor with a _clank_.

She felt her transformation cog reengage.

Skydive smiled at her perplexed expression. "Things are run a little differently here."

Thundercracker came up beside them. Hydraspark fought every instinct in her frame not to take a step back. "These will be the last," He said slowly.

Skydive's face fell. "You were discovered?"

"Apparently my account is maxed. I thought our hackers had reset the count."

"I did too. Maybe the peripherals have changed without us knowing. I apologize- how did you make it out of there?"

Thundercracker winced a little. "Ah. There's the problem. I owe Starscream now."

Skydive shrugged. "There are worse mechs."

Thundercracker shook his head, rolling his optics. "Your hero worship knows no bounds."

Hydraspark had relaxed enough by their banter that by now she felt a smile tug at her faceplates. Was her new life really going to be like this?

"He also mentioned that I should start keeping up appearances. And he's probably right."

"Well at least you got this last batch in. Maybe you should have guests over to let them see exactly what is going on."

"Once we get a full written script, you mean."

"Precisely."

Thundercracker turned then his gaze to the femme beside him. "I'm not sure we have officially met. My name is Thundercracker."

Her intakes cycled. "Hydraspark."

* * *

She lounged in the area that the Autocons of Thundercracker's estate had built for themselves with enthusiastic approval from the blue seeker. They had wanted to build a home for themselves that was _theirs_ to ride out the end of the war in relative peace. There was an expressed agreement of a kind between Thundercracker and the Autocons that they had to keep up appearances whenever a Decepticon was near, but otherwise, they were able to have a thriving, albeit cut-off, community within the safe walls. They had nicknamed themselves "Sanctuary."

Thundercracker hadn't wanted to bring and Decepticons near at first, and even declined visitations from his trine for many decacycles. They had hidden the entrance to Sanctuary in the energon factories on site so that their constant comings and goings could be accounted for. Though they still worked for Thundercracker, they did so at fair wages and were able to keep a percentage of what they made to use and buy things under Thundercracker's name.

Now, any good respecting Autobot would take this opportunity for granted. They might be tempted to build something that could get them off Cybertron, or construct some kind of weapon to help free their brethren from other estates. Yet Skydive was fiercely loyal to the blue seeker, and tried his best to explain that they really had a great life going on here. If they could present him with a plan that was _guaranteed _to work, then he would sanction it. Otherwise, it was foolish to even develop these plans because someone might be idiotic enough to try it, ruining all of their comfort and relative happiness.

Yet even in Skydive's spark, he knew it was wrong. He merely continued to spearhead this thought in keeping his debt to Thundercracker for risking his life everyday that they might have some freedom. Yet he knew, like all the other residents of Sanctuary knew, that it was morally, and horribly wrong to become comfortable with their arrangements if the Autocons in the estate next door were suffering. Skydive rationalized it by saying that they could do more good when the time came if they bided their time. He was the commanding officer, so he bore the burden of that choice solely and heavily.

Hydraspark had just gotten off duty and was feeling a little sore. She wasn't used to such repetitive actions that purifying energon required; she had been a soldier on the front lines. Still, she was glad for some kind of work to do that filled in the days. As she laid there a mech came over and sat down next to her on another lounge. He sighed, and the tired note to it sounded like how she felt. "Tired too, huh?" She said amicably.

"Yeah. I can only take so much of Starscream when he's on a tirade about Megatron."

Hydraspark felt herself freeze, but she willed herself to make no indication of how much Thundercracker's presence actually affected her. She had been trying to get to know him in every situation, but he was always distracted by other Autocons that he knew better. She swallowed, praying to Primus she could hold her voice steady.

"I didn't know. That he didn't like. Him," She said pathetically. Hydraspark tried to cover up her quavering with a few coughs.

Thundercracker, thank Primus, was staring ahead rather than at her. "That's putting it very mildly. I think Starscream would rather allow himself to rust rather than work cooperatively with our leader and now emperor. And then he complains about how horrible his life is since Megatron punishes him for insubordination."

"Well, he did let you buy me," she said, venturing into territory that she thought might be pushing it.

He looked at her in confusion. "Oh. That's right. You were on that last transport." Her spark sank a little. Apparently her first impression hadn't been memorable.

"I guess you're right. Still, he doesn't just let things happen unless they somehow can serve him some purpose. He probably just wanted me to owe him a favor."

"Forgive me for prying," she said, her spark skipping a pulse or two for even trying to keep this vein of conversation going, "but it seemed like he let you buy us in return for getting to see you more often."

Thundercracker made a incredulous sound. But then his mocking face faded and he looked at her. "I guess that was the ultimate end of that interaction, wasn't it?"

"I mean, he still scares the Pit out of me," she said quickly. She couldn't help but add the afterthought, _And so do you_. "But he did seem worried about you."

Thundercracker beamed. "He would get a kick out of hearing you defend him."

She smiled. "I can't believe I'm doing it either. But he did lead me here," she said with a sweeping gesture.

Thundercracker got up to go out. "It was nice talking to you, Hydraspark."

She beamed back. He knew her name? "And you, Thundercracker."

* * *

She and many of the other new arrivals sat quietly in a back room. They could hear talking on the other side, but they didn't strain to listen. They knew it was all staged.

"You keep yours so _clean_, Thundercracker. Mine seem to always be covered in grime," said Lugnut. He stared at Skydive as he served high-grade. "You were and Aerialbot, weren't you?"

Skydive paused. "Yes, my Lord." The honorific was a tad slow, but Thundercracker thought no one else noticed.

"I always hated Aerialbots. Mocking flight by their presence. You can't fly anymore, can you?"

"No, mi'lord. My transformation cog and thrusters have been disabled." Skydive turned to the other mechs in the room to serve energon.

"Let me see your device, slave. I've been looking for a different model for my slaves because somehow mine keep getting around it."

Thundercracker's intakes hitched for a moment. He tried to distract Lugnut. "What, they keep transforming anyhow? Some estate you're running," He said as Skydive slowly turned around to obey the order he was given.

"It's not that they are transforming, per se, it's just that I can't seem to keep tabs on them all the time. They are always off grid. And even when I get my systems looked at, no one can find the issue."

Thundercracker nodded. "Skydive, go get a prototype for the suppressor. My gift, Lord Lugnut."

Lugnut waved him off. "Not necessary. I'll just look at this one-"

Skydive tried to pull away but Lugnut quickly grasped onto his neck and angled him towards him. "Wait, where is it? Where's his suppressor?"

Thundercracker did a perfect Starscream impression. "I was trying to tell you. It is integrated into his helm. It's on the inside. I can give you the device later, if you would like." He leaned back into his chair trying to stifle the whirl of his fans. That was far too close.

Lugnut roughly let go of the former Aerialbot. "Hmm. Maybe that would work better. But I've never heard of that technology. Who developed it?"

"My Lord Thundercracker, you have a private comm awaiting you from High Lord Starscream about a new type of suppressor. Shall I tell him to wait?" Hydraspark had come out of the hidden wall and through the door.

Skydive nearly spilled the energon, but he righted just in time. Thundercracker furiously tried to suppress a smile. "I think I should since Lord Lugnut is here-"

"No, no. Go and talk to him about it. I think it is about time I left." Lugnut stood shaking hands with the seeker. "I can see many of the rumors weren't true. But, uh, keep the comment about my slaves being off-grid under the radar, yeah?"

"Of course."

Skydive escorted him out. "That was quick thinking. And quick lying." Thundercracker said, beaming.

Hydraspark smiled back. "Glad to be of service. You rescued us, after all."

"Yeah, but I'm also part of the race that enslaved you. Hiding some of you hardly makes up for it."

She shook her head. "You wear the weight of suffering solely on you shoulders. Why can't you allow yourself to be happy?"

Thundercracker shook his head. "Not as long as you don't have a fighting chance."

"But...what if some of us _don't_ want to escape?"

Thundercracker gave her a confused look. She bit her lip components, feeling heat rise to her faceplates. He looked away bringing a servo to his helm.

"Even if... and I mean well... No. I technically own you. I'm sorry but no."

She quickly scrambled into a chair next to him. "I'm telling you, I'm making this choice _on my own_. This isn't Stockholm syndrome or whatever the humans call it. I... I _need_ you."

Thundercracker stood, trying to put distance between them. "No. Even at our core, our programmings are completely at odds. On some level I would always be trying to destroy you."

"So do it. If that will make you happy-"

"UggHHAHH! STOP it. Just, stop it. You're worth more than that. I can't afford to have any more on my conscience."

She stood, her face expressionless. "I understand. I don't want to be a _burden_." She turned and stalked out.

"That's not what I meant," he said to an empty room.

* * *

The decacycles passed and they barely spoke a few words to each other. The Autocons continued to live in their sheltered society with their gracious benefactor keeping them safe from the Decepticons on the outside.

Yet not everyone agreed with Skydive's passive approach.

"Skydive! Skydive- quick get to the comm room," a mech said came into the lounge running.

He started running alongside the Autocon. "What's going on?"

"It's Cyberquake and a bunch of others. They've barricaded themselves inside the comm room and they are attempting to contact Rodimus off planet."

Skydive growled in anger. "They'll be discovered! And Thundercracker will be forced to execute them. Publicly."

"That's just it. They've taken him hostage."

"_What_?" Skydive quickly transformed and sped ahead of the mech. It felt good to fly, even if it was at such a low altitude. _ This could be bad. Very, very bad, _ he thought morbidly. If Thundercracker could no longer trust them, what was to stop him from selling them off to be rid of them as a nuisance?

He hadn't believed Thundercracker at first. Even when he removed the suppressors and let them have full use of the energon caches, he hadn't trusted him. But it was when he kept bringing more Autocons to the estate then he began to realize that this mech was serious.

And now Cyberquake was threatening that entire relationship. Not to mention their stable way of life.

He transformed right outside the comm room door. It was locked and sealed shut from the inside. Skydive angrily pounded his servos against the doors. "CYBERQUAKE! You don't realize what you are _doing_!" He kept pounding on the door, desperately trying to figure out how to get in. He looked up and saw the communication array above the room. He decided that if he couldn't get in, at least he could stop the signal.

A small voice in the back of his reminded him of his gestalt team. By destroying that array, was he destroying any chance of being truly free?

"Excuse me, Skydive. Could you get out of the way?" came a voice behind him.

He turned to see Hydraspark holding a Fusion Cannon. The gun was larger than her arm, but she had her weight shifted enough that she could at least hold it steady. "I'm getting in there."

Skydive stepped back, his hands up trying to placate the crazed femme. "Now, hold on a second Hydraspark. You're going to blast open these doors, then what?"

"Demand that they stop. It's only Cyberquake and Basebreaker. Everyone else tried to stop them, but they pulled out weapons and accused us of choosing captivity. Then I heard they had ambushed Thundercracker when he came back from a meeting with the other Lords of Vos.

"And now, I suggest you get out of my way." Hydraspark tilted her head to aim the cannon at the door. The gun gave a soft whine as it powered up.

Skydive scrambled into the air. "Fine! I'll go take out the array in case they get past the security measures. But wait to engage until I get back."

He powered his thrusters and shot off toward the arrary. She watched him go. "No promises," she intoned. She fired once as the blue pulse leapt from the mouth of the barrel and into the door. The light cascaded around, displacing the metal in the doors.

She could see Cyberquake and Basebreaker cowering from the blast inside the comm room. Thundercracker was on the floor next to them in stasis cuffs.

"ARE YOU CRAZY?" screamed Cyberquake. "You could have hit us!"

"Yeah and what happens when your comm gets intercepted? I think you'll be looking down the barrel of a different Fusion Cannon." She turned to Thundercracker. "Are you alright?"

His smile faded. "I didn't need you to come and rescue me, if that is what you mean."

She rolled her optics. She went over to him and unlocked his stasis cuffs. Cyberquake and Basebreaker were still in shock from her entrance that they didn't stop her.

Cyberquake came to his senses first. "Wait, stop. He's our only bargaining chip."

"Bargaining for _what_?" Thundercracker said, swatting off the dust from the Fusion Cannon burst.

Basebreaker growled. "We were going to trade you for passage off Cybertron and from there, we could contact Rodimus. But then this _traitorous glitch_ came in and convinced everyone that it wouldn't work."

"So you continued with the plan, just so you could save yourselves?" said Skydive, transforming and landing next to Hydraspark.

"It's not like that," Cyberquake ground out.

Thundercracker sighed. "Look, we're not getting anywhere. Just put your weapons down and we can talk about how we are going to handle this."

"We don't need to handle anything. They never got a signal out," Skydive said, glaring at the two mechs in front of him. Basebreaker got nervous, while Cyberquake just got angry.

"You pathetic idiots! Don't you realize what he is _doing_? He's trying to befriend you only to mess with your heads. This is _Thundercracker_ of the _Elite Air Commanding Fragging Trine_. He's killed more of us than he has in residence in his little _sanctuary_. This isn't freedom. It's just delayed enslavement. I for one can't take it any more." Cyberquake leveled a neutron assault rifle at Thundercracker's helm.

Hydraspark warmed up the cannon. "I wouldn't if I were you."

"I can't help it if you are infatuated with that pile of slag, but I'm not going to let him enslave us any longer."

"Hydraspark, don't. It's not worth it-"

"Shut up, you fragging piece of scrap!" Cyberquake tensed as he pulled the trigger.

The explosion from the fusion cannon was enough to knock out the wall of the comm room. The metal quickly melted as pieces of it caught on fire and burned quietly in the aftermath. Anticlimactically, sprinkles came on to douse the flames and stop them from spreading.

Thundercracker sank to his knees on the ground. He stared at the churned metal and the charred remains of Cyberquake. Skydive lifted some rubble and found Basebreaker covering his head and whimpering slightly. The former Aerialbot commed their medical mech to come attend them and make sure everyone was not hurt.

Hydraspark gently put the fusion cannon on the ground. She stood behind Thundercracker, staring at the back of his helm, willing him to say something.

For some reason, it didn't work so well any more.

He sat there for a long time. Skydive gingerly picked up the fusion cannon and left with the medical Autocon and Basebreaker, trying to give Hydraspark a Look but she didn't falter from her vigil. He sighed and walked out.

Hydraspark quietly rubbed her arm and then stopped herself, grasping the crook of her elbow. That grime and gross feeling was coming back. The place where her suppressor bolt had been, itched.

"Why?" she heard. She hadn't seen him move so she waited until he said something else. He looked back at her with a furtive glance, then continued to stare at the charred remains.

His eyes had stabbed her spark.

"Why did you... do all of this?"

She swallowed. "I didn't want to since I knew it wouldn't be what you wanted."

He shook his head. "This perfect servant routine is getting old, Hydraspark. You just killed a mech."

"He was _going_ to _kill _you, idiot!"

"Maybe I... deserve that."

"UghHH. You are such a fragger." She stomped over to him and sat down in front of him. He pulled back in surprise.

"Listen to me. I'll try to be simple so you can't fall into one of your depressed routines, okay? Right. _You_ are worth something. Constantly letting your life count for nothing is against that principle. _You_ taught me that."

He threatened to look away. She maneuvered almost like the Earth animal snake to keep optic-contact with him. "But according to your other principles, other lives are worth more than your own. Cyberquake was going to kill you, and you weren't going to defend yourself. Am I right?"

He kept staring into her blue optics but he nodded slightly.

She nodded, her expression still a little angry. "Well I decided a long time ago that I would try to adopt your principles as well. I know that by killing Cyberquake, I've killed any chance that you would want to be with me. So I held your life in more importance to the one I wanted."

She leaned back. "I know you will probably never be able to look at me, because you will feel that you are responsible for what happened, but again, _I _made that-"

Hydraspark was suddenly very aware that she was being kissed. The blue seeker had closed the difference between them in mere milliseconds. Her optics opened wide for a second before they shuttered closed and she remembered that she had always wanted this.

She leaned into him and crawled into his lap, while still locking lip components. He chuckled softly and enveloped her in his arms. He leaned away from her and then put his forehead to hers.

"Thank you for saving my life, but I hope you won't do anything like that again."

She hugged him back. "Don't give me a reason to."

* * *

Decacycles passed and their relationship continued to grow. He asked her to move her quarters closer to his and she complied happily.

"So you're interfacing an Autocon," Skywarp said deadpan.

Thundercracker spewed the sip of energon he had just taken. Starscream's eyebrow ridges went as high as they could stretch. Skywarp shrugged his wings. "It's all over you. You haven't been this _happy_ in a long time."

Starscream took a long sip of high-grade.

"And it's not like we all haven't done it," the purple seeker said smugly. Starscream shot a nasty look while he finished off his cube.

"So, spill. Details."

Thundercracker looked down trying to figure out what to say. Maybe this was the right time.

"Her name is Hydraspark."

"HA. I knew it. Bet she's a fine piece of femme, right? Sometimes those Autobots knew how to make them."

Starscream put down his cube. "So... you're serious? Your nailing your slaves? Isn't that a little... unethical?" He said, a smile creeping at the corner of his lip components.

Thundercracker expected that jab. "Just one of them. And she came to me," which is more right than they would ever know.

"Oh and I bet you just love that. Slag, glitch. You are so fragging lucky."

Starscream was not nearly as amused. "So I'm guessing she's one of these slaves I've heard about with integrated suppressors. You know, the kind that _you can't see_."

Thundercracker paused. "Lugnut."

"Yes. _Lugnut_."

Starscream glared at the blue seeker, but Thundercracker remained impassive. "Skywarp, could you leave us for a second?"

"Oh come on guys, we haven't all three gotten together in a long time! It wasn't until recently that you two were even on speaking terms again! Please, can we just get some more high grade and relax-"

"Skywarp, your whining is giving me a helmache. He and I need to have a serious _talk_." Starscream's wings hitched with agitaiton.

Thundercracker sighed and stood. "Skywarp, don't worry. This is about something different. I'll get Skydive to escort you out." He playfully smacked Skywarp on the shoulder. "I'll see you later." Skywarp looked mournful but complied, leaving with the Autocon in tow.

Thundercracker turned around and ducked just in time before an energon cube flew at his faceplate. It made contact with the door, making a tiny melodious _tink_ as it shattered and sprinkled the floor with its tiny shards.

Starscream's face was very, very dark.

"You imbecilic, soft-sparked piece of prophylactic slag," Starscream ground out. "You are letting your Autocons run around without _suppressors_?"

Thundercracker sighed and sat down.

"How many? How many fragging _time bombs_ have you lit the fuse under? You _Bot fraggin son of a Cessna.__"_

Thundercracker lied. "Only two. Two that I needed to know could be trusted and could prove to the rest of you that the bolts weren't always necessary."

"How long?"

"It's been a while."

Starscream put his helm in his hands. "And you've been berthing one of them? Or both of them. You've put yourself in that kind of position on multiple occasions?"

"I didn't realize this was an inquiry into my interfacing life."

Starscream shuddered like a gasket before it blows its top. "I don't give a flying_ frag_ about your interfacing life. Can't you see they are just trying to use you? They aren't your friends, they aren't your lovers, and they certainly aren't your... your... bondmates." He had a lot of trouble with that last word. "They are Autobots. First and foremost."

"I love Hydraspark."

"And you have been inviting Lords over here for decacycles so that they would stop whispering about you, and here you are fulfilling their worst rumors! Ughh, Thundercracker. Why do you slagging do this to me?"

"I said, I love her."

That stopped him. "What?" he drawled.

The blue seeker sighed again. "I had hoped to formally ask you if we could be bonded."

Starscream was at a loss.

"And if I didn't think you would attack her, I'd let you meet her."

"I need more energon," the red seeker said, attempting to stand. He swayed on his pedes but he made it to a cabinet on a brushed metal bar in the corner. He poured the lavender-white substance into the cube almost reverently. Now fully stocked, Starscream made his way back to his seat.

"I'm not trying to do this to you..." Thundercracker began.

Starscream held up a digit for the blue seeker to be quiet. He hungrily downed half of the cube in the silence. Thundercracker began to look concerned. "Primus, Starscream, slow down."

"I should say the same to you," Starscream said, his voice gravelly from the high-grade. He leaned back and let the tingling buzz warm his systems. It took a lot of high-grade to get to this point of bliss these days. "You've just chosen a different and less acceptable poison.

"And whether you think so or not, you are doing this to me. And to Skywarp. Because we are indelibly connected to each other despite my current wishes to the contrary," Starscream said, his anger leaking out of his vents with the excess energon's fumes.

Starscream shifted and he tilted his helm back. "And there's no way to convince you that there are plenty of other nice, murderous femmes out there that wear a _Decepticon_ insignia?"

Thundercracker silently thanked Primus that Starscream had gotten to that weird point in his drunkenness where he was somewhat reasonable. He smiled. "I'm afraid not."

Starscream tilted his helm back down and gave a quick, annoyed glance and then silently contemplated the situation. "I still can't believe how much of a fragging skidplate you are." He sighed. "I can't agree to this on my own. I have to get higher approval."

"I'll go and ask him myself."

Starscream snorted. "Don't be ridiculous. You wouldn't last one breem with him trying to slag you. Can't you just continue to interface and promise one day you'll bond? Maybe when Megatron has finally died from cosmic rust or something?"

"Starscream, I already said I would go myself."

The red seeker wrinkled his nose-plate. "I heard you. And that makes me realize you are serious. He'll come to me anyway wanting to know how the Pit I'm running Vos if this could happen. Might as well beat him to it."

Thundercracker nodded. "I do realize this is a difficult situation for you. And I'm really-"

Starscream nodded to cut him off. "I'd rather think of you deliberately doing this to me. It'll make me feel better." He smiled.

* * *

A decacycle later, Starscream transformed and headed towards Thundercracker's estate. He usually enjoyed flying between their estates, but now he felt like some kind of bringer of death. Well... He was.

Megatron had _not_ been pleased, and of course Starscream had borne the brunt of that anger with his frame. With all of the Autocons he had to beat up on, he still felt the need to pound the rust out of him. He twitched a little remembering the encounter.

"You have one of two choices. Kill Thundercracker, or kill the femme. We cannot have them equals in bonding. She might convince him to do something foolish, or kill him herself. But I leave it up to you, _High Lord_." Megatron roughly let go of Starscream's slashed wing he had been grasping.

"I'm surprised you don't want more control over this, _Mighty Megatron_. I should think you would control your new world with an _iron fist_."

Megatron snarled, his arm transforming into his cannon. It whined as it powered up and the blue, ethereal light lit up Starscream's surprised faceplate. "I know you too well _commander_. The choice will be yours because otherwise you will be able to rationalize it away as me being _tyranical_. I don't want that. I want you to suffer either by your wingmates' disdain or the empty space left by his voided absence.

"In some fashion, you _allowed_ this to happen. You are responsible for what happens in Vos."

"Just as you were responsible for _me_ all those years on Earth?" Starscream ground out.

Megatron laughed hollowly before growling. He transformed his arm back and grabbed the seeker's throat. "Yes, Starscream I was responsible for you. And I punished you accordingly."

Starscream powered his thrusters faster through the clouds. When he landed he commed his arrival to Thundercracker and started strolling off the landing pad.

"M-my High Lord Starscream, your visit is a surprise," said Skydive, running out to meet him on the pad.

"Yes. Yes, I know," Starscream said distractedly. His wings itched where they had been recently repaired and he twitched slightly. Skydive drank in every detail but didn't say anything.

Starscream entered a room where Thundercracker and Hydraspark waited. "I hope you don't mind if she stays."

"She's the most talked about femme in the Decepticon ranks; it's fine with me if she stays," he said tiredly. "Do you have any high-grade?"

"Before that, tell us what he said."

Starscream took a big breath and explained, in relatively simple terms considering the amount of fighting that had actually gone on, the ultimatum that they were now presented with.

When they heard, they started to fight with each other.

She stood up and started yelling at the seeker and he tried to tune her out by yelling over her. Both seemed to want to take the honor before the other could do it.

Starscream was shocked, to say the least. He pulled back and watched their bickering while seated in his chair. Skydive too, took a seat.

Starscream regarded the former Aerialbot with a confused look. "Are they often like this?"

Skydive nodded to the affirmative. "Yes, all the time. High Lord." He quickly added the honorific.

Starscream narrowed his optics but didn't press it. "Then why in the Pit do they want to get bonded, anyway? Seems they already are."

Skydive snorted, "It would appear that way, High Lord Starscream." Much quicker that time.

Starscream grew tired of the spectacle, especially if they weren't going to serve him any energon.

"Look, I'm not pleased by this- hey. HEY. YOU FREENING REFUSE COMPACTORS, KISS MY SINE FUNCTION OR SHUT UP." They were breathing heavily, but they had stopped talking.

Starscream stood indignantly. "I am going to leave this up to you, though you probably already know what my choice would be." He glanced quickly at Hydraspark, but continued talking before Thundercracker could protest. "You have three megacycles to comply."

He stalked out and headed for the landing pad. He should have just commed Thundercracker the choice and told him what he had decided. But Skywarp had been right. They had just amended their "friendship" or mutual toleration, so it was worth it to at least give him the appearance of a choice. At least for the sake of having another ally.

"High Lord Starscream!"

He paused and turned around to see the offending femme jogging to catch up. "And how can I be of service to _you_?" he said.

She slowed her tracks as if she were approaching a rabid organic. "I... have a suggestion that might be in the interest of all parties involved."

Starscream measured the femme with his optics. "I'm _listening_..."

"_...And this megacycle will be cloudy with a 75% chance of acid rain, depending how ireful the Rainmakers are feeling this morning. Traffic coming out in and out of Kalis is still _extremely_ slow because of the unknown explosion from yesterday. Reports of Autocon rebellions have been proven false, but High Lord Soundwave is still not enlightening us as to the cause._

"_In other news, High Lord Trypicon plans to open the gladitorial games tomorrow. Tickets are still on __sale, but quick, they are going fast..."_

Starscream flipped off the radio comm. He saw the clouds full of acid rain making their way towards Vos, but it was merely an annoyance. It just meant they would have to repaint everything _again_ to fit his standards.

He decided this was going to be his last trip to Thundercracker's estate for a long time. He wasn't sure how much longer his ATD could be "controlled" or whether he even _could _control it if placed in the wrong situation.

As soon as he landed, he knew something was wrong. Skydive hadn't come to greet him as per his usual office. He felt eyes on him but he dare not move to find where they were. He was just about to charge his weapons when out of nowhere, two hellish screams hurdled at him.

"UncLE StarSCReam!" cried the happy sparklings as they tackled him around the legs. The little twins were always so happy to see him, but he was never sure why. They chittered happily at his presence and he couldn't help but smirk. He had been effectively taken out by two infants since he couldn't move his legs.

He began to grow worried that they were unchaperoned until he saw the distinctive Aerialbot frame running towards them. He was covered in multi-colored paint splatters and looked a little haggard. When he got there, he leaned over on his thighs, trying to cycle his intakes and get his breathing regulated. "High...Lord...Starscream..." he said. Skydive seemed to have been chasing the sparkling for some distance.

The red seeker smiled wryly. "Seeker sparklings are notorious for their voracious speeds," he said. The twins giggled hearing the word "speed" and knowing from experience that the word was usually in reference to them.

Skydive nodded. "Something I've... learned quickly my lord."

Starscream scooped up the two, eliciting excited squeaks from the always attention hungry sparklings. He gave a surprised look to the only other adult around, which unfortunately was an Autocon, but would have to do. "Are we sure these aren't technorganics? They have grown by at least ten microns since I saw them last." The sparklings shouted their protests but fell into more giggles.

Terrorwing was more square than his brother, but just a sleek. He mirrored his mother's coloring with bright, vibrant cyan and dark, atmospheric blue for detailing that matched his father. He was truly a mix of both with a more quiet, relaxed persona and his mother's stubbornness.

Blizburst was black with cyan detailing. He seemed to be the favorite of his "uncle" Skywarp for his rather reminiscent coloring and personality. Blitzburst was always getting Terrorwing and himself in trouble, but he was also a little bit smarter than his brother. He was constantly asking questions, which drove Thundercracker mad, but always intrigued Starscream.

They walked into the main hall where their father was. "Lord Thundercracker, I found these princes of Vos roaming Cybertron and I demand a huge ransom for their return," Starscream said, clutching the children tight as they laughed even harder at the game.

Thundercracker gave a sarcastic shrug. "You can _have _them. Little princes who don't finish their energon shouldn't be traveling around anyway." The children struggled to get out of Starscream's grasp.

"We go finish!" Blizburst said.

"_Oh_, I don't _think_ so," Starscream said. "If _he _doesn't want you I'll just have to find someone else..."

"Heh, I'll take'em!" came a voice behind them. Skywarp strolled into the hall, causing the children to shriek even more.

"We not go him! He too _silly_," Terrorwing said, nuzzling into Starscream's shoulder turbine. Both Starscream and Thundercracker laughed at Skywarp's indignant expression. Apparently, he had thought he was the _favorite_ uncle.

"Too _silly_? Guess this _silly_ uncle will have to take his brand new toy _elsewhere_." He slowly turned and stalked off towards lounge, looking over his shoulder to see if they were following.

The wriggled out of Starscream's grasp, begging Skywarp to forgive them and give them their toy.

Starscream looked to Thundercracker. "Blitzburst is definitely going to be a seeker," he said proudly. He didn't say what he was thinking, but Terrorwing, despite his name, was looking a lot like a certain red and yellow set of car-alts. "Fine, strong Decepticon sparklings."

Thundercracker smiled wanly. "Yes."

"Megatron is going to want to do an interview in one orbital cycle to evaluate their indoctrination. I'm sure they'll do nicely," he said. Thundercracker took the implied threat to heart. Suddenly the blue seeker perked up.

"SKYWARP! That had better not be a turbo-kitten!" he yelled, running into lounge where the sparklings were with their uncle.

Starscream smiled thinly. He was suddenly alone in the hall, Skydive having snuck off at some point. _At least Thundercracker has taught his slave _some_ proper behavior_. He started to wander around the hall and walked down to a small balcony that looked out over a bustling part of Vos.

"Ah, Hydraspark. I had wondered where I would find you." She was seated on a metal bench, watching the mechs below as they went about their daily routine.

The femme did not move. "Starscream," she said.

He pulled out a scanner and a datapad from subspace. Without asking for permission he attached some wires to ports in her helm. "And how are you feeling today?"

She still stared out at nothing in particular. "Nothing."

Starscream sighed annoyingly. "I mean, how are you? Any helmaches? Strange recharge cycles?" The scanner beeped, indicating it had finished its scan. He detached the cables and put them back into subspace as he read the details on the datapad. All functions showed normal.

Hydraspark turned her gaze lazily toward him. Her face was blank. Then she turned back to staring back at the sky.

He took a seat at another chair opposite her. "Is there something I can do for you?" he said quietly. He was intrigued by her look at him. That was new.

"No." She said. "I was merely seeing if I had any emotion when I looked at you. Still nothing."

Starscream turned to look out at the sky as well. It wasn't that he had felt _guilty_ for what he had done, but he felt in a strange sense that he owed Thundercracker to make sure she didn't degrade health wise. A procedure that removed the emotions of a transformer was not uncommon among Decepticon experimentation, but Autobots had been manufactured differently. No one was quite sure what would result since the Autobots seemed to be so much more indelibly tied to their emotions. Every once in a while, Starscream made it a point to visit her and do a check for Thundercracker's sake, since with no emotions she wouldn't see a reason to tell anyone about her pain. She felt no emotions: happiness, sadness, anger, pain, and certainly not worry that might cause her to seek medical counsel.

"Mom?" came a little voice. Starscream nearly jumped out of the chair, not sure if the little mech was allowed out here with her. It was Blitzburst, emerging from the doorway with some energon in a small cube. "I bot some."

She looked at him briefly and went back to staring. The sparkling took that as an invitation for him to come sit next to her. The little black sparkling crawled up the tall bench, not needing any help from the adults. He offered the energon to her but she seemed to ignore him.

"I think she is full, Blitzburst," Starscream offered when he saw him a little disheartened that his gift was not well received.

"No, I just don't drink sparkling energon," she answered truthfully.

Blitzburst knit his brow-ridge, looking a little hurt but not saying anything. Starscream was afraid the little mech was going to start crying which he sincerely hoped would not start happening since he didn't know how to handle a crying sparkling.

She had noticed Starscream's expression change but didn't know how to react. "Yesterday, the twins were running around playing with each other for some kind of joke. Blitzburst ran into a table and broke one of his more fragile energon lines in his leg and he was crying. Loudly." Blitzburst hung his head dejectedly.

"Energon was getting everywhere, and he continued to cry. But I didn't care if he bled out right there."

Blitzburst's eyes filled up with cleaning fluid, but he did not cry. Starscream attempted to change the subject. "Blitzburst, what did Skywarp bring you?"

Before he could answer, Hydraspark continued talking. "His screams grew louder and it wasn't until then that Terrorwing got the sense to go get Thundercracker. He gave me a look, but he just patched Blitzburst up and took him away."

"Hydraspark, you don't have to continue the story. I think you are upsetting Blitzburst-"

"Uncle Stasteam, it's okay. Mommy is just sick and not feel well and she not know what she says," Blitzburst said, rubbing his mother's arm. It was painfully obvious that this was a constant refrain in this household.

Starscream couldn't help but give a very sad look to the little sparkling.

"Ah, Blitzburst. There you are!" Thundercracker said, coming in and sweeping up his sparkling in his arms. "When you left, Terrorwing decided he wanted to name the turbo-kitten 'Spike.' Is that okay with you?" Thundercracker smile knowing that _no_ it would _not be okay._

"Spike? We said 'Trypticon's Flying Dinosaur!' I need go have talk with Terrwing." The sparkling slid down his father's arms and legs to the ground, taking a running start towards his brother and other uncle.

Thundercracker saw Starscream's expression and sighed, sitting down next to his bondmate. "Hydraspark, we have to be careful what we say to the sparklings because sometimes we can upset them."

She looked at him, her optics void. "I did it again, didn't I?" She had no remorse coloring her voice; just an observation.

Thundercracker put an arm around her and brought her close, kissing her forehead with his lip-components. She tolerated it and sat there in his arms, but had no attachment whatsoever.

He pulled off her and suggested that she go refuel since she hadn't had some energon in a while.

Starscream just sat there watching her go. He tried to read Thundercracker, but he had become imperceptible after the procedure. Hydraspark had suggested it after cornering him in the hallway, and he had barreled through and brought her to his estate barely three megacycles later to perform the procedure before Thundercracker found out or she lost her nerve.

When he brought her back, Thundercracker behaved oddly. Rather than exploding, his wingmate seemed to have crumpled upon himself and took to completely caring for her. Upon doing the preliminary scans, Starscream had found that she was carrying sparklings. He had wrapped them in more buffers so that even her indifferent systems could not hurt them should she be taken with that idea in her now uncaring state.

The news of the sparklings seemed to save their relationship, at least on the surface. Thundercracker had completely become the only parent to the twins, and they were not wanting in love or attention. The blue seeker also managed to dash the rumblings of his apparent defection by having not just one, but _two_ sparklings that would be raised to be upstanding Decepticons. Apparently, the Decepticons had discovered that many of their systems were now sterile after years of experimentation; any mechs that did produce offspring rose in popularity and acclaim.

Thundercracker had complied to any and all schooling Megatron had required of his sparklings, as long as they did not have to be molded as soldiers for the ongoing war campaign. As a result, the sparklings seemed to be rather cruel to the Autocons on the estate, much to Thundercracker's despair; but most Autocons agreed it was just simple sparkling-play. The blue seeker was never as sure. The twins didn't know about "Sanctuary" and he didn't plan to show them.

Thundercracker and Starscream had always skirted the issue when in eachother's company, so much that Skywarp had thought all was said and done and forgiven. But Starscream always had the nagging feeling that if he didn't tread lightly, he'd end up with a sonic blast to the face.

He had a defense just in case Thundercracker ever called him out on it: If he didn't do it, she threatened to go to Shockwave. And Thundercracker surely wouldn't have wanted that madmech performing the procedure, would he?

It was a weak argument, and Starscream knew it. He settled for just being there for his wingmate. At least, up until now.

"I might not be around for a while," Starscream started. "You should continue to have your Autocon medic examine her every so often."

"Going away?" Thundercracker said, curious.

"No... I just have an approaching deadline that I have to meet." Of madness.

Thundercracker nodded. "Thank you for everything Starscream. You've been so good to the twins and...us."

Starscream shook his head. He could feel his ire rising for this idiotic soft-spark. But at the same time, he felt admiration for the mech. Of all the mechs to thank, he was thanking _him_?

"I have to go," he said, trying to disguise the disgust he felt for himself in his voice.

Thundercracker watched him go, narrowing his optics.


	10. The Gleam

A/N: Sorry for the long wait of an update: in part, I am having trouble at work and I also am beginning to lose my muse with this one. I hope to just finish it off since I know where it is going, so I hope to finish it for the few of you who keep coming back (Thank you for your kind reviews!). I know what it is to like a story and to discover it hanging, so I will push myself to avoid that.

* * *

Starscream slumped over his desk, looking at the slides of circuitry of an ATD-addled mech who could not be apprehended peacefully. The Gestalt Enforcers were not _always_ privy to excessive force, but lately they had all but given up playing nice.

The circuitry looked no different than any other Decepticon. In fact, it looked no different from many Autocons as well. He tore the circuit out with disgust.

He poured over the programming lines, for the umpteenth time, and found no errant binary code or slip of command structure. Nothing _physical_ that would cause such a complete lack of control. And why _did _it happen to the lower ranks first?

He sighed. Starscream often felt like he kept walking the same pattern around the room to no new effect. And he knew the definition of an idiot was quite similar to what he was doing.

Still. There had to be something he was missing, something outside his thinking. Or it could be so simple that it was beyond his capacity to see it. Time was running out though: not only did he fear he would succumb to his own "treatment" practices, but even inside the VORC building he would not be safe if mechs like Megatron and Soundwave suddenly developed ATD.

He massaged the sides of his helm with his digits. Back during the Earth campaign, if he had felt this frustrated he would have gone for a flight over a desert. The humidity would be zero, and the magnetic fluctuations arising from the magnetic field would stagger his senses. He couldn't help but forget about his problems just to stay aflight. There were little to no squishies to offend him with their presence. The only problem was the wind that carried the miniscule granules of silicon, called sand by the natives. Sand blasting was one way to ruin a fine paint job. Nevermind that sand always got _everywhere_ and would show up for weeks. And it was really annoying when it got into joints.

But Earth was no where near. He could fly over Cybertron, but that would only remind him of the rather large population of mechs that could all possibly turn into ATDers. Atders. Interesting. Sounding like the Earth snake species adders.

"...And this is the lab." Perceptor said decrescendoing into a whisper.

Skyfire attempted a smile. "So this is where all the great things of science now occur."

Starscream folded his arms. "Or they would, if we weren't so compounded _one_ problem to solve."

Skyfire sat opposite the metal desk. The lab was spacious, specifically designed to allow light and sky in so that any flier could be in there for hours without feeling the pressure of the walls. It was also decorated quite spartan, except for the occasional oddity that to the initiated was actually a device that led to some huge discovery in Cybertronian history.

Skyfire's eyes went wide. "Is that-"

"The first subspace converter? Yes."

Skyfire scuttled over to the white square pedestal upon which sat a rather small circuit. Attached to it was a glimmer of displaced matter, indicating a rudimentary pocket for Cybertronians to store items.

"This was on display in the science academy in Iacon," He said, still in awe.

"Yes. Megatron had that leveled." He wrinkled his faceplate. "He was about to do that with gems like these still inside. I made sure to grab them before he started construction."

"I had no idea he was so... rash."

Starscream gave Skyfire and incredulous look. "You probably never chose to truly evaluate his personality then."

Skyfire looked crestfallen. "I suppose you're right. Lord."

Starscream twitched at the word. "You don't need the honorifics in here. I've told him that as well, but it seems to make him even _more_ uncomfortable." Perceptor had practically melted into the wall. When he was looked at, he stood at attention and nearly knocked over a pedestal. He righted it in time, but still appeared flustered.

The shuttle leaned in. "He deathly afraid of you, Starscream. The thing is a bundle of nerves all the time."

Starscream smirked. "Good. It will keep him alive longer."

Skyfire leaned back out, slowly. And he had been so excited to see him again. "So what should I work on?"

"Go through each command line and see if you see anything out of place. I have to go... deal with someone. Perceptor, you're with me." He turned to leave.

"Oh, and Skyfire."

The shuttle turned his helm to the seeker in back of him.

"It goes without saying that I will tear your wings off if you abuse the privileges I'm giving you. I'm not a fan of _betrayals_," He said quietly.

He turned and walked out, Perceptor skittering behind him. Skyfire sat alone in the huge lab, fighting the urge to shiver. Perhaps his Starscream really was dead.

* * *

Starscream and Perceptror walked at a clip down the corridor and outside to the many outbuildings on Starscream's estate. Even now as the open sky lifted above him, the seeker could feel the frustration simmering off him like asphalt in heat. He paid little attention to the Autocon beside and behind him (only a few steps), even thought the microscope-alt could not regulate his breathing.

Perceptor had not always been a nervous mech. In fact, many saw him as "Percy," unique in mind and solid in social skills had once been less cautious as he was now. But he had been the first Autocon Starscream had bought and the seeker had been experimental with certain techniques in order to control his new servants. Perceptor couldn't remember exactly what had gone on, but he often found his intakes hitching whenever he was alone or in close proximity to the seeker.

For his part, Starscream acted like those days had never happened. He always treated Perceptor more like a secretary/pet rather than an Autocon, but he figured the initial days Perceptor had spent with him would at least subconsciously keep the microscope-alt in line. He had noticed the memory banks of the Autocon scientist had been corrupted, but he didn't know how far. And Starscream liked it that way.

"Did you discover what that inventor was doing in the energon cache?" Starscream said without turning around.

Perceptor pulled out a small chip with wires attached to it from subspace. "I found this, my Lord. It seems to be siphoning energon over a long period of time to a cache hidden beneath a panel."

"Hmm. Tell me, has he had any contact with the Autocons from Iacon?"

Perceptor stuttered. "I-I-I don't know w-what you mean."

Starscream rolled his optics. "You mean you had _nothing_ to do with this little debacle with Wheeljack?"

Perceptor could feel the inside of his servos starting to itch. "N-no my Lord, I swear. I-I had-d nothing to d-do with this."

"I thought you were going to have your vocalizer fixed?" the Seeker snapped, throwing an annoyed look at the Autocon.

Perceptor flinched. "I-I will go fix it now, Lord. Forgive me," he replied, bowing his head.

Starscream regarded him for a moment. He then turn and left without a second thought.

* * *

"Ah, Wheeljack. Glad to see you are waking-" he said as he slapped the Autocon out of stasis. Wheeljack's blue optics blazed online, focusing on the seeker and then the room he was in. "Oh. Sorry, _now_ you're awake."

Wheeljack glared but noticed he was not in the holding cell he had been in previous. This room was extremely hot and uncomfortable; some kind of boiler room for the workings of the estate. He could already feel his fans working overtime to keep him cool, but it seemed like no use. The stifling air was coming from exhaust vents coming down from the top of the ceiling and blowing into the room. There were huge cisterns of boiling slag; leftover pieces of unsmelted iron that gave off noxious vapors.

There was a red orange glow from the vats that made the seeker in front of him even more menacing. He noticed he was taller than Starscream, in part because of his frame, but also because his servos were tied above his head, keeping him suspended about an inch from the floor. He gave his chains a little tug to test their strength and noticed they didn't move at all.

"So. To get to business. You were siphoning energon away from me. Any reason _why_?"

The inventor continued to glare but said nothing. That seemed to spurn Starscream on. The seeker smiled and leaned in. "I can think of two possible scenarios that would entice you to steal energon from me. One, you were stealing it for yourself, or two, you were stealing it from others. And I have a hunch based on the former Autobot's ideals that it was probably the latter."

Starscream draped an arm across Wheeljack's shoulders like two friends sharing a secret. "So before I get to your punishment," he said quietly, "I want to take this opportunity to _apologize_."

The Autocon drew back angrily. "Don't patronize me, _Decepticon_. You have no remorse at all so go ahead and do whatever you want. I don't even care anymore."

Starscream kept his face impassive, but silently dug one of his digits into Wheeljack's sparking wounds. Apparently, his guards had been a little rough with the inventor on the way done. The inventor grimaced, but wouldn't give the seeker any other indication of his pain.

At the same time, the High Lord of the estate began to speak almost seductively. "_Oh_ no. That's not why I'm apologizing." He locked optics with Wheeljack. "I want to apologize for being a neglectful master to you. Had I been less distracted, you might actually have sent that energon to its intended target."

Wheeljack had the definition of confusion on his faceplate. "A neglectful master...?"

Starscream extracted himself from the Autocon and sat in a chair before him. He leaned back to make himself comfortable and crossed his left leg over his right. He was still smiling. "Had I been more attentive, you would have gotten away with a lot more. I have just been so distracted with my other duties... I've failed you." The seeker's smile imperceptibly became dangerous.

"What the frag are you talking about?" Wheeljack couldn't keep all of the panic out of his voice. Starscream was most certainly mad; and these days mad Decepticons usually killed and _ate_ their slaves. Not always in that order.

Starscream grinned. "Part of the right to own slaves is that we are given a referendum to allow you to act out in controlled acts of rebellion. But because I wasn't able to manipulate you into doing more... You've come across as not fulfilling your potential. I mean, on Megatron's estate? His slaves have already "secretly met" three times. And all you did was fail at stealing some energon."

Wheeljack could feel his jaw go slack. "Why... in Primus' name... why would you _want _us to rebel? I mean surely you're not _that_ stupid."

"Stupidity has nothing to do with it. The Decepticons are immortal now. Our greatest foe has been subdued. We need _something_ to entertain us. So many of my "lord" meetings are actually when we regale the stories of your pathetic attempts for freedom. We waste a lot of high-grade, but it's decreased infighting."

The inventor's face darkened. "You're lying." The devious seeker had to be lying. There was no way they could control every instance of rebellion. And the rest of them never learn of it? No way in Pit. Hell. No way in Hell.

Starscream was enjoying this, far more than perhaps he should. Any slave that had somehow figured out their referendum had been disposed of. "You Autobots are far too trusting; you even trust your captors. Did you not think it was odd that one, there were _no_ guards, and two, I decided to show up _right_ at the perfect moment to catch you in the act? Such coincidences were far too much in your favor. Surely at that point you saw through the charade?"

Slag. He _had _thought it was too good to be true. He was stricken with disbelief. "So it was _all_ planned?"

"There are no coincidences anymore, slave. We are supreme."

"And Sanctuary doesn't exist either?"

Starscream's smirk suddenly stagnated. "What nonsense are you talking about?"

The Autocon's optics went wide. His lip components swirled into a smile. Then he couldn't help himself- he started to laugh. A raucous, full laugh. He tilted his helm back, allowing his laugh to echo through the hot room.

The seeker became indignant. "Stop laughing, you imbecile!" He stood, threatening to punch his Autocon, but Wheeljack just laughed even harder.

Wheeljack's laugh eventually became a snarl, and he pulled on his chains, lunging at the seeker. "Oh, _Starscream_. How your house of cards has fallen."

Starscream twitched at the human phrase but was much more interested in the "Sanctuary" business to whip him for the infraction. "What is Sanctuary?" He said irritably.

"Come now, I thought there was nothing, including coincidences, that were beyond your contr-" His voice cut-off into a sputter by the servo at his neck. The servo was trembling in barely controlled rage.

"I'll not ask again, you _scrap heap_."

Wheeljack took one last smirk, obvious even through his grille-like faceplate. "You really don't know do you? And it's right underneath your nose... or so I am told."

Starscream screeched a string of creative expletives at the slave. Wheeljack politely smiled with his optics, raising an optic-ridge at the more colorful ones. Starscream stopped in the middle of one and pulled off of Wheeljack, as if he had been slapped in the face. He slowly sat down, his optics trained on the floor. Then he looked up at Wheeljack.

"You're not going to tell me. I understand that. I will just have to dismantle all of my slaves, component by component until someone tells me what the slag it is."

"You _can't_. You have a limit-"

"_I_ determine the limit."

Wheeljack scowled. "I don't know everything. All I know it is a community of _Autobots_ living freely."

"Oh, you mean _Rodimus_. That doesn't bother-" Starscream had sounded relieved.

"No, they are on Cybertron."

"Why haven't I heard of them?" Starscream ground out.

"Because their function is passive. They are awaiting other orders from Rodimus or whoever can get a hold of them."

"Then where are they?"

"Even _I_ don't know, _Lord_." The honorific was now more of an insult. "And you can pull apart my circuits one by one- you still couldn't find them."

"Why were you collecting energon for them if you didn't know where to send it?"

Wheeljack smiled. "I suppose you _are_ smarter than the average bear."

Starscream wanted to rip the inventor's throat out for yet _another_ human reference. Starscream didn't exactly understand the mammalian quadruped having to do with intelligence, but he decided it was an insult.

"I had been siphoning a small portion of your energon caches in order to store it and give it to them when the time arose."

Starscream frowned. That part he didn't believe at all. The truth was, he had come across Wheeljack at that particular time by accident, but he had known the inventor was stealing energon for some time. He had been careless to walk in there without checking the elaborate sensor relays that had been set up all over the estate to see where he was. And because of this carelessness, he had missed his opportunity for Wheeljack to lead him directly to this pocket of rebels. Passive rebels, apparently, but rebels all the same. Had he been less distracted by his own troubles, the inventor might have sent his bounty and Starscream would have the upper servo in this conversation.

He glared back at Wheeljack and wondered if there was any way he could rescue this day from the Pit. He saw the torture instruments gleaming in the low light, begging to be grasped and _used_ by his servos. He smiled wickedly. He'd not had any high-grade in a while, so maybe he could experiment with how much ATD really was affecting him.

"Let me let you in on a little secret, wretch," Starscream said, picking up one of the metal instruments with a sharp, bended edge. "I have the beginnings of ATD."

Wheeljack stiffened, his haughty air draining out of him.

"And I'm curious to see how far I can stretch my control."

The Autocon began to struggle against his bonds. "You are the slagging glitch from Hell."

"Yes. And I intend to drag you down with me. Let's see how much you actually know..."


	11. The Colosseum

A/N: Alright so I got the writing bug back. This chapter was fun to write, but I think I am finally pushing the limits of the "T" rating and it is slowly sliding into the "M" category. Now another thing: There are some slashy bits in here, but it's pretty mild all things considered. I'm of the like-minded opinion on here that gender is a strange designation for robots, and so there shouldn't be any weird stigma to it. Still, I am aware of my reader's varying sentiments, so this is the warning.

**Warnin****g: SLASH: kissing, caresses, flirts. VIOLENCE: fighting, limbs torn off, carnage.**

If you don't like it, sorry, but it _is_ necessary and if you read on you will see why. And I apologize again, but this is really going to be a mindf*ck in many different ways. Hope you like it as much as I'm enjoying writing it.

* * *

There were millions of mechs, all throbbing and pulsing en mass in the huge colosseum as they waited for the games to begin. They were undulating masses of blacks, blues, and the occasional brighter colors usually reserved for seekers. The small contingency of Lordless and/or the Empties were in the upper galleries, far from a good view of the action that was about to take place.

Megatron was reclining in an elaborate throne made especially for him by Trypticon to further entice his lord and master to attend. Even Optimus who sat to the right and behind Megatron was given a well-wrought chair. Trypticon's associate, Swindle, had shown him that sales would triple whenever the Supreme Lord was rumored to be in attendance, so he quickly tried to make every effort to have the warlord come and visit the games as often as possible.

And it wouldn't be hard. Megatron was quite fond of his gladiatorial past, so he decreed that all of the Lords should attend as well. Soundwave had sent his apologies, but he couldn't make it, sending two cassettes in his stead.

They for their own part were giggling furiously at their good fortune. They were able to sit with the High Lords and be _seen_ by everyone else as if they _were _part of the Decepticon high command. This was the biggest event since the surrender of the Autobots, and _they_ got to be a part of it. Life was good.

Thundercracker and Skywarp sat with an empty chair between them, waiting for their trine leader to make his undoubtedly loud and obnoxious entrance. Skywarp was really excited for the fighting that was about to occur, and Thundercracker tried his best to match his tinemate's enthusiasm.

Shockwave sat on the other side Megatron, silent and observant, his single optic flicking across the crowd. Straxus of Polyhex sat beside him, looking sullen. He had made a bid for the colosseum to be located in Polyhex near the smelting pools. He even offered the idea that the losers would then be smelted alive in the pits, but, much to his dismay, Trypticon had made the defining bid when he harkened back to Megatron's rising stardom in the olden days, winning the warlord over and getting the official commission to build the colosseum. Straxus still was not going to be happy about it.

Starscream finally made an entrance, but not nearly as grand as the others were wryly expecting. Perceptor and Skyfire were in tow behind him, looking a little shell-shocked at the cacophonous noise that pounded in their audios from all of the cheering mechs. They quietly took their place behind the Lords' box with the other Autocons, ready to attend their masters' wishes. Skyfire silently greeted Skydive by smiling and nodding his head, but he dare not speak out of turn with Megatron so close.

"Finally decided to join us, have we?" Megatron said lazily, only half in the chide.

Starscream just smiled and sat down, ignoring the attempt to raise his ire. "I was giving a gift to Lord Trypticon that I think you might enjoy, Supreme Lord Megatron."

He sat between his wingmates, greeting them by patting them on the shoulders. He sat, leaning forward in his chair and looking to the crowd. He frowned slightly an looked to Rumble. "Where is the Kalis section?"

Frenzy and Rumble both gave the seeker an annoyed look. Had the seeker been on time, he would have seen the opening where each city-state was recognized. As it was, Vos was not surprised their High Lord was absent but was pleased that both Skywarp and Thundercracker were.

Rumble pointed over to the far right. "That section over there. Had you been here on ti-"

"Thank you ever so much," Starscream said, ignoring the cassettes and beginning to scan the crowd, mech by mech. Even though he had only had one real interaction with Skyraider, the promising young seeker often entered his thoughts when he was given time for reflection. Skyfire, the incident with Blitzwing and Wheeljack had all kept him away from idle thoughts, but when such a large population of mechs were before him, the opportunity deserved a look.

They were waiting for the games to start where Autocons would be forced to face one another. At some point, Trypticon would throw in Empties and Lordless, and maybe a disgraced Decepticon, but for now it was just going to be Autocons forced to fight one another. No weapons, and some had nanobots injected into them to control their actions should they refuse to fight. It was this twist that had attracted the large crowds today, since it promised former comrades forcing to fight each other, and to the perverse minds of many Decepticons this was more of a draw than the carnage itself. But apparently, the Autocons today were not advertised as having any type of handicap in battle.

Megatron turned his gaze from the field to the seekers. "Thundercracker, I couldn't help but notice that your sparklings are not in attendance."

The blue seeker stiffened slightly. "They had school today, mi'lord, and I wasn't about to pull them away from their indoctrination. I planned to show them holovids... later."

Megatron smiled. "Nonsense. I officially declare today a holiday as of now, so they should come join us. And I already arranged for Astrotrain to go an collect them."

Thundercracker forced his response to sound gracious. "Thank you, Supreme Lord."

Megatron nodded. "Besides, they should be here to witness the glory of battle. With their father."

The statement was innocent enough, but TC knew it was a veiled threat. Apparently his attempts to glide back into the Decepticon upper echelons of society were not completely successful.

Skywarp leaned over to his trinemate, lightly patting his thigh. "Don't worry, TC, they'll probably think it's just some elaborate game."

"That's what I'm afraid of," the blue seeker said, mostly to himself.

Trypticon's booming voice echoed across the stadium, announcing the beginning of the games. "_Welcome, _gentlemechs," his voice rumbled, earning cacophonous jeers and boos to make even Megatron smirk. Trypticon was not known for his sarcasm since he was more of a "face your DoOm" kind of mech, but again, Swindle had been coaching him on a sales pitch.

"_Today we honor the achievements of our glorious Supreme Lord and Master Megatron._" Again, eruptions of audio-splitting cheers rocked the stadium. For his part, Megatron didn't even acknowledge the accolades, and the crowd seemed to love him even more for it. "_Please enjoy the games, and remember to keep your weapons to yourselves._"

A few dismayed shouts as mechs powered down their weapons. They had been hoping this would be an _interactive _game. Still they roared in anticipation.

Suddenly the doors to the arena screeched open, allowing four mechs to enter from four spaces. They walked to the center, forced to keep walking by energon whips at their backs.

The crowd roared in surprise, and the Autocons, Optimus included, gasped at the four that were going to have to fight one another:

Prowl, Jazz, Ironhide, and Red Alert.

The Lord's box where Starscream and Megatron sat all gave surprised looks to each other. Trypticon was pulling out the big guns for this first game. Three of them were once Optimus Prime's personal advice team, and all four were high ranking Autobots in their day. All were seasoned warriors who dealt with many of the Decepticons in the audience, let alone the Lord's box.

The four mechs walked to the center and stared each other down until Jazz jumped Prowl in a hug, surprising the military strategist, and causing Ironhide to nearly fall in a guffaw. Red Alert seemed nervous, anxiously looking to the other mechs around him to see if they really were going to attack him or each other, but seeing no immediate threat, he relaxed a little. Jazz then turned to Ironhide, shaking his hand.

Many in the crowd booed at the happy reunion, threatening to start firing at them if they didn't start beating the slag out of each other. Trypticon patiently reminded them over the loud speaker that if they used their weapons against the Autcons in the arena then they would be reformatted into energon dispensers.

Excited sparklings burst from the doorway leading to the Lords' seats, and grabbed onto the railing to see over into the arena. Blitzburst and Terrorwing were chittering so fast that they nearly spoke in static. When Thundercracker tapped them on the back and gave them a look, they immediately looked a little forlorn. They turned to Megatron and bowed at their waists, meekly greeting the gunmetal warlord.

Megatron seemed pleased with the display and turned his attention back to the arena. Optimus looked at the sparklings and then to Thundercracker, remembering that their mother was an Autocon and he noticed the seeker looked a little uncomfortable by their presence, but was making a valiant effort in not letting it be too obvious. He looked almost embarrassed when he heard some mechs in surrounding boxes point out the sparklings and some even praised Thundercracker for their births. Skywarp made up for his wingmate's modestly by playfully rubbing their helms with affection. The sparklings then turned back to the railing, crawling up to get a better view.

The crowd was really starting to grow agitated by the lack of carnage and started to show their displeasure by trying to storm the arena themselves. Meanwhile, it appeared as if the four gladiators were making a pact not to fight one another and then start planning a means of escape.

Suddenly, Trypticon's voice boomed again over the Colosseum. "And now we have a gift from High Lord Starscream."

The other Lords in the gallery box snapped their heads to the red seeker who ignored their optics and continued to search the Kalis attendees.

A mech came out of another entrance to the arena wielding and energon axe. Straxus suddenly looked much more interested in the games.

The mech's eyes were glowing blue, which proved that he was in fact an Autocon, but he was not supposed to be wielding a weapon- that was the cardinal rule of the colosseum. Decepticons remembered their origins well.

"Wheeljack?" Jazz yelled in surprise, giving the mech a name. Many had heard of the crack-pot inventor, but here he was, in the metal... with a weapon. The affable mech bounded up him, nearly embracing him when Wheeljack took a swing.

He sliced into Jazz's arm just the former head of Special Ops got out of the way.

This garnered screams of excitement and surprise at the new development from the surrounding Decepticons. Autocons slicing into each other? This was definitely worth the exorbitant ticket price. The Autcons in attendance became very grave, very quickly.

"What the fu-" Jazz said pulling away, favoring his arm. He backed away towards Ironhide who glowered at the traitor.

"I'm not sure that's Wheeljack any more."

The Lord's box was just as shocked as the mechs in the arena. "Perceptor, close your mouth," Starscream said without turning. Perceptor had gone slack-jawed at the inventor-turned-gladiator, and Starscream had apparently predicted his reaction.

Wheeljack began to chase down his former comrade at arms, swinging the axe. Ironhide deflected it a few times and rolled to the side, opting to dodge rather than sprint out of the way. Red Alert was so confused by the whole thing that Prowl had to push him out of the way of a near-fatal swipe.

"How did you _do_ that?" Rumble asked in awe.

Starscream shrugged. "I reprogrammed his frame to attack any Autocon in sight. All he is- just programming now." Though the red and white seeker seemed indifferent to the awe everyone held for him, he was secretly basking in it. But he continued to scan the crowd, mech by mech.

Megatron chuckled darkly. "The mech no longer functions."

Starscream glanced irritably at Megatron, but then went back to his search. "He didn't survive my interrogation."

Skywarp was watching in rapt attention. "How can you get him to fight without a spark?"

Starscream folded his arms across his chassis. "You can program a robot to do anything, with or without a spark," he said simply.

"It's the _thinking_ and _feeling_ you lose," Thundercracker said, his voice remarkably even.

"You win some, you lose some."

Ironhide stopped dodging and began to fight back, managing to wrench the energon axe away from Wheeljack. In the process, it snapped, cutting the power to it and going dead to the ground. Still, Ironhide landed some punches, but took some as well. The crowd ate it up.

"How long can he last?" Shockwave asked, his optics trained on the fight.

Prowl tripped over Red Alert who was scrambling out of the way and nearly lost an arm.

"Wheeljack will no longer function _or_ be functional after this match. You can only use the residual energon left over in his lines to fuel him. Since he is already dead, his body can no longer convert energon into usable energy to sustain him."

"The living dead..." Skywarp said, morbidly fascinated. Thundercracker and Starscream mutually rolled their eyes, remembering their wingmate's former obsession with human horror moives.

The sparklings gasped in excitement as Not!Wheeljack got a hold of Red Alert's pede. As he dragged the former head of security near him, with his other servo he silently grabbed a hold of Red Alert's arm and tore it off. The mech screamed in terror and pain, again earning his due from the sadistic crowd. His spurting energon lines went from a spray to a slower gurgle.

"That's new," Rumble said jerking his thumb towards the arena, but turning to Starscream. "Who knew the inventor had it in him?" Frenzy guffawed at his fellow cassette.

Perceptor quietly staggered to Starscream's back and meekly asked permission to step out for a moment. Starscream waited a klik then dipped his head, acquiescing. Once around the corner of the entrance to a corridor, Perceptor lurched and purged his tanks, retching for a good half-cycle.

Ironhide got in a good left hook into Wheeljack's face, but even though the inventor's neck was sickeningly cracked to the side, he still managed to grab Ironhide in a hold, trying to squeeze the life out of the warrior. Prowl and Jazz were trying to protect Red Alert and saw their chance to jump Wheeljack from the back. They both landed on him, ripping into him with all their combined force of punches and scrapes.

Wheeljack didn't make a sound.

He jumped from his pedes, intending to land backwards on top of the two mechs latched onto his back. Prowl managed to get off before he was slammed into the ground, but Jazz, who had lost some energon from his own wound, was not as lucky. Wheeljack slammed into Jazz, jabbing an elbow into the saboteur's neck, causing him to sputter and choke in the sudden loss of intakes.

Wheeljack then kicked Ironhide out of his grip, letting him roll away to collect his own intakes, while he focused his complete and utter attention on the sputtering mech on the ground before him. He pinned him to the ground and began to punch him in rhythmic time, one, two, three, all to the face. Lines broke in Jazz's face, sending speckled bits of energon onto Wheeljack and into Jazz's optics. By the time Prowl pried Wheeljack off of him, Jazz was dazed and nearly passed out.

Thundercracker's servos twitched, desperately wanting to shield his sparklings' optics from this display. But he knew he couldn't. Not ever. He happened to look over at them and in the corner of his optic, he noticed that Shockwave was at the edge of his seat. The gunformer was watching more than just intently at the unfolding scene below them... There was almost a type of hypnosis.

In fact, about a third of the mechs in the audience were watching with the same kind of attention. Entranced.

Starscream however was looking at everyone _but_ the fight going on below. At some point he irritably barked at Skyfire to go and collect Perceptor.

Optimus watched in mute horror. He saw every drop of energon that fell from his men, feeling as if it were the same energon that ran through his own lines. The former commander of the Autobots was silent, but rigid. This was the only thing he could do for them: he recorded every scratch, every scream, every scrape that the gladiators endured knowing that he would torture himself forever with these recordings. Every once in a while, Megatron would glance at him, but the Autocon just continued to stare. He felt the space in his mind where anger would have boiled forth at the sheer injustice of everything, but instead all it gave now were leaking bits of despair.

Skyfire watched in silence once he returned with a sobbing Perceptor to his seat. He avoided looking directly at the spectacle, thankful, for once, that he was an Autocon without the rights to a full view of the scene.

Suddenly there was an unclean snap that reverberated to silence in the stands. Wheeljack had managed to get a hold of Prowl, and he snapped his back over his thigh like a twig for kindling. Some of the crowd winced in sympathy, but then burst into more cheering, extremely pleased by the bloodbath.

Skywarp huffed his vents. "There's _no way_ that was ever Wheeljack. You just made an assassin bot to go and rip them to shreds, and then you probably poisoned the others' energon. You fixed the game, didn't you?"

Starscream merely shrugged, his optics still not leaving the stands of Kalis. "I don't need to explain my methods to you, 'Warp. Perhaps the others are just rusty, or Trypticon poisoned them, _I don't know_." Then the seeker's wings perked, grabbing the fleeting attention of Megatron. "Excuse me, Lords, but I have other duties to attend," Starscream said, extracting himself from his seat and making for the doorway. He waved off Perceptor and Skyfire as they began to rise to follow, and made his way down the corridor towards the Kalis section. He was content to be alone for this.

* * *

He walked along at a brisk pace in the cavernous, curving corridors that lined the outside of the stadium. They were enclosed except for the occasional exit that was a huge staircase winding down to the ground floor and out of the building, and the occasional entrance back into the stands. He walked alone since all the mechs were crowded in seats watching the action play out on the field.

Torches lined the walls in the very dark spaces and they were filled with Potassium Chloride. The flames burned a purplish color that bounced off smooth, dark rocks that lined the walls. The solid metal floor looked like dark water that had little incandescent, purple bugs floating in it. The one problem with the design of the building was that because of the curve, one could not see very far down the corridor. It was very unsettling, especially for the seeker, to not be able to see very far, or, who might be hiding around the bend.

But around one bend he saw a black wingtip attached to a black seeker frame... attached to the young seeker that had pervaded his thoughts for so long.

Skyraider.

A fleeting thought entered his mind that he wasn't halfway across the stadium in the tunnels yet, so how could Skyraider be here already? But the doubt left when he thought that Skyraider had probably seen him as well from across the way and came to meet him.

"I never thought I would run into you again, mi'lord," Skyraider said as his optics lit up and he turned to face the seeker. "I never dared hope."

Starscream slowed his steps, grinning. "Then it's your lucky day." He admired the form in front of him that mirrored his own: black where he was white, emerald green where he was red. Skyraider was slightly bigger than Starscream, but the red seeker prided himself on aerodynamics rather than bombing power that increased bulk. In a way, the larger frame made this other seeker only more attractive since it complemented his own. "You're not an easy mech to find yourself," he said, tilting forward in a playful manner. He then leaned against the wall.

The younger's faceplate heated up. "You searched for me? I... Well, I'm honored, Lord." His wings perked in flattery and held a tinge of anticipation.

Starscream allowed himself to smile. It had been a while since he'd flirted so shamelessly, let alone on one so worthy of his affections. He couldn't help but see part of himself in this young seeker... which might have been part of the turn-on. And he deserved a little distraction of _his own_ design.

His smile changed, becoming a little more feral. "You never came to visit..." he stated, letting a wingtip brush the black and green one. By accident, _of course_. But he could already feel the inviting energy waves the other seeker was giving off, and it spiked deliciously when their wings met.

The younger took a step forward, searching Starscream for and indication of any line he should not cross. They were from different classes, after all, so his come-on could be seen as unseemly. Seeing Starscream react neutrally to the advance, he leaned his chassis against the High Lord's, smiling as he felt the heat coming off of Starscream match his own. "I would never ask you to _condescend_, Lord," he said huskily. He cycled his intakes, sending cascading bits of friction down the front of their contacting chassis.

Starscream braced himself against the wall with his hand, staring at the black seeker's mouth. He imagined _invading_ it and all the tactics he would use to conquer _that_ country. "I don't offer invitations often..." he replied, ending in a growl.

Skyraider chuckled softly as he pinned Starscream to the wall, his forehead touching the red seeker's faceplate, in a light, affectionate gesture. Starscream returned the flirt by nuzzling his nose to Skyraider's playfully.

For a moment, Skyraider paused, staring into Starscream's optics. A servo found his way to Starscream's waist and softly, the younger seeker thrust his waist against the other, again, making his intent known, and again, finding no resistance. Just an amused smirk.

But still the younger paused appearing frozen by indecision. Starscream's smirk faded. Then he growled and grabbed a hold of the black seeker's chassis with one servo, pulling him closer. Their frames were aligned, touching in all the _correct_ places. "And my invitations don't last long."

He pulled Skyraider to him, and forced the seeker into a kiss. His back flattened on the wall as the younger seeker found his moxy, returning the kiss with a similar amount of aggressiveness. When Starscream used his glossa to explore Skyraider's mouth, he was encouraged by a small sound of approval. That aroused him even more, allowing his servo to travel from Skyraider's chassis to his aft, placing a strong and possessive hold on the plating.

It was then that Starscream lost complete control over the situation.

Skyraider hiked him off of the ground and wound himself in between Starscream's legs, forcing the seeker to straddle him. Starscream gave a surprised sound that was cut off by a low purr given off by the mech pinning him to the wall. Skyraider continued his onslaught of kissing, but Starscream was decidedly more hesitant now.

When he heard an interfacing panel retract, Starscream pulled out of the kiss and pushed the mech holding him away. Skyraider paused and then quickly closed himself up, releasing Starscream back onto the ground. He continued to lean into the seeker, cycling his intakes to try to get them back to normal. Starscream too was cycling heavily, and he didn't mind being held by the still-attractive seeker. But this had developed far too quickly.

"I suppose we _are_ rather exposed," Skyraider said, his voice colored by confusion and disappointment.

Starscream placed his hands on the other seeker's hips in a comforting gesture. "It's not that as much that I fear we would be interrupted," he lied. His real reasons for stopping were an amorphous bunch including the fact that he was not _leading_, and that Starscream had always been a bit of a tease. Part of him though was still _very_ keyed up- this mech was willing to 'face with him _in public_? Primus really liked him today.

Skyraider's wings drooped, knowing that despite the reassurances, on some level Starscream had still rejected him. Starscream had begun to feel a twinge of guilt for hurting the impressionable mech's feelings, but he was not about to lose control on something _he_ had initiated. Too many things had not been under his command lately. He would say what, _when_, and _how_ if he wanted to, damn it.

Starscream then smiled seductively, grazing the other's wing with his fingertips. "Come to my estate tonight..." he said softly. "We won't be interrupted there."

Skyraider gave Starscream a look then leaned in so that they were cheek to cheek. He whispered into Starscream's audio, "You have no idea how much I desire you, Lord. Please, allow me to prove my devotion to you."

Starscream felt a surge of lust flow through the energy field surrounding him, and it was all he could do to not just _take_ the mech right there in the corridor. But he had made his decision and he would stick to it. Such _words_ though; where did this one get such a silver glossa?

He squeezed his hands that were still wrapped around Skyraider's waist, but also moved the seeker out of the way. "_Tonight_ then, youngling." He lacked no affection in his voice as he said the endearing term. He still felt the disappointment radiating from the young seeker, but Starscream just jutted out his chin in defiance. "Come, sit with me in the Lord's gallery." Starscream wound his servo to Skyraider's servo, searching for a hold. Skyraider didn't return the gesture.

"I can't, Lord. I'm expected elsewhere." Cold. Cut-off.

Starscream scowled. "That is the second time you've refused my invitation. Perhaps I should rescind my offer completely since you obviously have more important things to do," he angrily huffed his vents. He wanted to show off his new toy, especially right in front of _Megatron_. And Shockwave too. His threat was idle, however, and the black and green seeker thankfully understood it as such.

"I want nothing more than to please you, Lord," he said quietly. "I promise I will attend your every need tonight, but I really can't be seen..."

"By whom?" Starscream said, concern touching his voice. "Are you in trouble? I can fix it."

Skyraider nodded. "I've no doubt you can, Lord. We can discuss it later and I will answer anything you ask of me."

Voices echoed down the hallway as some mechs were looking for an energon dispenser. Skyraider turned to his Lord, squeezing his servo softly. "Tonight, then."

The red seeker nodded as Skyraider turned and walked briskly around the bend. Starscream thought about following him, but changed his mind. He would find out tonight. After considering the dim hallway for one more moment, he turned and made his way back to the box, alone.

* * *

Prowl rolled over on his side, his back and legs completely numb. He thought dimly that he had been prepared to fight any Decepticon or Empty that stood in his way, but he should have known it would not be that easy. He probably would have even fought other Auto_bots_ if it got him closer to escape. But so many things were stacked against him, and now, here he was: on the ground and paralyzed.

He tried to figure out what had gone wrong. The only thing his logical mind could come up with was the sheer vigor that Wheeljack demonstrated had thrown them long enough to get in some devastating blows, and when their processors finally caught up and their long-since-dormant battle routines reappeared, it was nearly too late. But even their former Decepticon enemies were not nearly so... callous. Shooting? Yes. Punching? Absolutely. Scratching? Burning? Crushing? Yes. Tearing off limbs? Not... not really.

Their fight had quickly gone from four-on-one to one-on-one between Ironhide and Wheeljack. Red Alert was bleeding out beside him, just trying to stay out of the way. His faceplate looked pretty gray, which everyone knew was not good. Jazz was trying to get up, but he kept stumbling since his helm had been hit so many times and the mech could barely see due to all of the energon encrusted over his faceplate.

Wheeljack was squaring off against Ironhide, and faked left, sending Ironhide to that side as the warrior tried to protect Red Alert. Instead, Wheeljack punched Jazz out, and the saboteur went flying, unconscious. Ironhide snarled and tackled the opponent, giving a bellowing yell as he punched as hard and as fast as he could.

Starscream returned to his seat and was thankful for once that no one noticed. They were all too enraptured in the fight. The sparklings had made it into Thundercracker's and Skywarp's lap and both were a little uncharacteristically silent at the carnage. TC tried to distract them by talking to them, but they always let their minds wander back to the fight and they watched in fascination.

When Ironhide gave a few loud punches, Wheeljack began to sag a little.

Rumble nearly shot out of his seat to the railing. "This is it!"

Ironhide punched and as he did so, neck plating came off of Wheeljack and exposed energon lines. When Ironhide went to punch one final time, but his servo became entangled in the lines, causing them to break. Energon dribbled out, but it didn't gush like it was supposed to. Ironhide was too tired to care. He punched with one loud _crack_, the stands went silent as the Wheeljack automaton convulsed and then fell limp. He grayed, showing he was no longer an animated corpse.

The crowd gave a chorus of yells, shouts, cheers, jeers- all in discordant cacophony. Many jumped to their feet in ovation for the fight they had just seen and praised Trypticon, Megatron, and begrudgingly, Starscream as well.

Ironhide sighed and stood up over his dead friend. All he could do was frown and glare at the Decepticons that cheered in the stands. He then went over to Prowl and helped him up by putting an arm over his shoulder. Medic bots came out and qucikly went to work on stopping Red Alert's bleeding and checking for damage on Jazz. Ironhide waved them off of him for a second while he walked over to the Lord's box and looked up at them.

He and Jazz stood before them awaiting Megatron's response. Ironhide managed to give a malicious look to Starscream, knowing he was responsible for that atrocity he had to fight. Starscream met his optics, but remained impassive.

"Yet again, the former Autobots have proven why they could not defeat us in the war. They could not even fight one of their own _dead_ without suffering." Megatron boomed, addressing the stands. Ironhide remained silent, but glared.

"Still, all four of them function, even if close to losing their sparks as well. So, I grant that they will live to fight another megacycle." Cheers punctuated his decision. Ironhide and Prowl suddenly looked very tired.

Trypticon then took over, thanking all of the sponsors for the games, jokingly saying that part of the profits would go to benefit Veterans at VORC (Veterans of Recent Campaigns), but then he said "Nah, let those slaggers rot!" earning laughs and jibes from the crowd. Starscream couldn't help but wince a little.

Thundercracker collected his sparklings who had fallen into recharge. He bowed to Megatron, thanking him for letting his children be a a part of the festivities today since it was certainly... educational. Megatron inclined his head, recognizing the praise and waved him off without a second glance. Thundercracker, Skywarp and their Autocons took off, heading back towards Vos with the sleeping sparklings in their arms.

Rumble and Frenzy left, followed by Straxus who still looked pretty pissed about the whole day. Shockwave waited behind with Megatron, and they both regarded Starscream as the seeker rose to depart.

"Fascinating gift, Starscream. I wonder how you learned to reanimate corpses so quickly," Megatron said with a twisted smile.

Starscream didn't smile back. "I'm glad you enjoyed it Megatron. That is _always_ my objective," he said. Then he looked to Shockwave. "What do _you_ want?"

Shockwave grunted and then continued to look at the field where energon spatters still covered the ground.

Starscream groused at the brush off, but didn't say anything more. "Well, Supreme Lord, I must be on my way. Scientific _genius_ to create and all."

Megatron ignored him. "I'm going to the front lines," he said simply.

Starscream deflated and looked surprised. "Uhm, my Lord... We discussed this-"

"I know what we discussed. And I am still going to the front lines."

Starscream huffed. "Fine. You are the Supreme Ruler of the Universe, do whatever the Pit you want." He folded his arms across his chassis. He happened to look to Optimus who was staring at him. His irritation ebbed a little. "How long will you be gone for, Lord?"

Megatron shrugged. "Perhpas a megacycle or two. Not long. But I'm curious to see your war technology... in action."

Starscream fidgeted under Megatron's gaze. "Very well, Lord. Are you leaving me in command?"

Megatron smiled. "I've already discussed this with Soundwave and Shockwave. Soundwave said it would be logical to leave you as the ultimate authority, but Shockwave reminded me I have already left you with _many_ responsibilities."

Starscream shot a glare at the other gunformer. Fragger.

"So I'm leaving you _both_ in charge. Shockwave will take care of the day to day things, and you will continue your research. Still, no major decisions will be made without the other's approval."

Starscream could not help but laugh. "Forgive me Lord, but you expect us to work _together_? We can't even work on things separately without _meddling_." Starscream ground his dentia on that last word. Fragger just _has_ to go and plant seeds of doubt in Megatron's head. The seeker thought angrily that he should have known better.

Megatron was no longer smiling. Things always did escalate with him rather quickly. Starscream held up the palms of his servos, trying to placate the warlord. "If that is what you desire, Lord, then I would be _loath_ to disobey." He still managed to make it sound slightly sarcastic, but he wouldn't be a Pit-spawn if he didn't jab to the last moment.

Megatron then smirked, rising from his throne. Optimus slowly rose behind him, still staring intently at the seeker. Starscream shot one more glare of death at Shockwave, then departed ahead of Megatron, his two Autocons following quickly behind.


	12. The Seeker

A/N: Hey all, here is the semi-climax of the story. Thanks an bunch to all those who have been following along, both old and new. I'm glad to provide if you like this stuff... but I think you might if you've gotten to this point. From here on in I'm bringing out the presents from Christmas that I wrapped a while ago, so I hope you still like them. This has _always_ been where this is going and if you reread other chappies, you'll find what I was doing.

**WARNING**: SLASH and hinted non-con/dub-con. If you have triggers, please beware. Still, it's pretty mild and the "T" rating stands.

One major revelation left, and it's all written. Then I just gotta wrap this up and give you the goods. Thanks again and please read and review!

* * *

Starscream paced in his room, awaiting the comm from one of his Autocons saying that a strange seeker had arrived. He kept going into his private polishing racks to primp and then would sit, trying to entertain himself with a datapad.

Why was he so nervous? Perhaps there was just something fascinating about this seeker, besides his charming good looks and mysterious air.

There was a rap on the window leading to a balcony. Starscream turned anxiously to see Skyraider there, smiling.

The seeker laughed and let him in. "You could have used the front door, you know. I'm a _High Lord_; we don't need to be discreet."

Skyraider shrugged. "This makes it more mysterious."

Starscream smiled. "Well, you are certainly intriguing. I intend to _fully_ explore your mysteries by the end of the night." He relaxed on a lounge, sweeping his hand and inviting the other mech to do the same. Skyraider eagerly complied.

"So what is it you did that you can't be seen?"

Skyraider leaned back in the lounge. His face took on a contemplative look, and he pursed his lips. Obviously being very careful to choose the right words. "I suppose I left my home at an impressionable age. It wasn't really my choice, really, but the circumstances deemed it necessary. Anyway, I was declared a traitor and my return home has been... jilted."

Starscream cocked his head sideways. "That hardly seems like the crime to force yourself into hiding. Are you _sure_ you are telling me everything?" He smiled cunningly, knowing the black seeker would find the expression hard to refuse.

The other seeker blushed at the attention. "My Lord, I would not lie to you... not _now_ anyway. There'd be no point."

Starscream furrowed his brow. "But you would have lied to me before?"

Skyraider looked nervous. "I wasn't entirely sure of your intentions... I feared-"

The red seeker put a digit to the other's lips. "It is alright. I _trust_ you. I don't know why, but I do. I'll just get to know you better _now._" He stood and went to the door. "Care for some high-grade?"

Skyraider suddenly waved his arms, frantic. "No, no- I just want-"

Starscream didn't register the fear in the black seeker's voice. "Well, I'll just have Perceptor bring some for me." He commed the microscope-alt, and he came into the room, having been waiting just outside the door.

"Here you are, my lord." He walked into the room and placed it on a table in the corner. "Is there anything else I can get for you?"

Starscream shook his head. "There's nothing else I need. What about you?" Starscream turned to face the other seeker.

Skyraider's face fell.

Perceptor looked surprised. "Uh, I don't need anything, Lord."

Starscream looked rather annoyed. "Of course you don't, I wasn't speaking to you."

Then Starscream noticed that Perceptor looked wildly around the room, and his optics passed right over Skyraider. The black seeker just stared at Starscream, his lip components pursed. "I have a cloaking device..." He said quietly.

Starscream stared in shock at Skyraider for several kliks. Perceptor wisely remained silent, regarding Starscream warily. When Starscream moved, the Autocon flinched, but the red seeker just quietly went to the high-grade in the corner, pouring himself one drink.

He downed it, and poured another.

Without turning, he said, "Perceptor, I'm a little indisposed. You may go." His voice was wavering a little. Perceptor nodded, taking one last sweep of the room with his optics, then leaving without a sound except for the swish of the door closing behind him.

Starscream slowly turned around. He was staring angrily at the other seeker, who just groused under the glare.

Finally, Skyraider broke the silence by sighing. "I had hoped this would have happened later."

Starscream narrowed his optics and turned. "You don't have a cloaking device. And even if you had one, your vocalizer would not have been covered by the cloak."

Skyraider folded his arms across his chassis. "_Well_, I did warn you earlier that I could not be seen by other mechs."

Starscream felt one of his fans stall. "I thought you meant..."

"Mmmhmm. Exactly. You just accept everything I say. Don't you find that odd?"

Starscream felt dizzy, and he wasn't sure it was all from the high-grade. He sat down in the lounge chair, trying to steady himself.

"Alright," he rasped. "Let's review the facts."

Skyraider smirked. "Ha. This should be good."

Starscream ignored him, cycling his intakes as if taking a big breath. "First: I can see you, and no one else can."

Skyraider smiled. "Yes."

"No one has ever been able to see you but me."

"Correct. You never noticed that every time I interacted with you, you were alone. And every time you tried to drag me in front of other mechs, I bowed out of the engagement."

"So... you are in my helm"

A rueful smile. "I am... part of you so to speak."

"Are you a figment of my imagination?"

Skyraider rolled his eyes. "I am part of your subconscious. A symptom of ATD is that the consciousness splinters, hence hallucinations and other indications of a cracked mind."

Starscream went rigid. "How do you know that, when I don't? That is, if you really are a part of me..."

Skyraider sat in a chair on the other side of the room, examining his digits as if he were bored. "When you don't summon me to the surface, I get to browse and collect information that you yourself have compiled. So while you have been up there, gallivanting around with your Autocons and your Lords, I have been down here figuring out why you haven't succumbed to ATD already. And it took me a while, but wow. The secrets you hold."

Starscream glared. "So you represent my madness. _You_ are the representation of ATD."

Skyraider groaned, bringing his servo to his helm. "Why is it so important that you figure out _what_ I am?"

Starscream leaned back in his chair, folding his arms across his chassis. "I want to know what you want, and how to make you go _away_."

Skyraider laughed. "Oh, is that all? Well, that's _easy_." He got out of his seat and walked across the room, and started climbing into Starscream's lap, straddling him.

The red seeker was decidedly _not_ interested. "Egh, _get off me_!" he said, trying to push the black seeker away.

Skyraider grabbed the flailing servos by the wrists, pinning them against the wall. "What's wrong, Screamer? Don't care to play with yourself?" The mech was much stronger than he put on, but Starscream dimly thought: How can this be happening if he isn't even _real_?

"I can answer that, too. You see, I'm _part_ of you. That secret little bit of your subconscious that controls you from the background. Reflexes, instincts, gut-feelings- I have access to all of that. So _you _can't overpower _me_, but the opposite can be true." He smiled, his red optics dancing merrily.

Starscream attempted to squirm, but he was held fast. "If you are part of me, and you are not even _corporeal_, why can't I control you?" Starscream said, frustrated.

Skyraider got intimately close to Starscream, his nose brushing across the red seeker's faceplate. Starscream had frozen in place, his fans stressed and whirring loudly. "Just because you know you're in a dream doesn't mean you can control it." He started to kiss Starscream's neck, searching for the sensitive wires that might convince his prey to play along.

Starscream was not having it. "This is... This is madness. What is it- what is it you want?" He couldn't deny the seeker on top of him was gifted with that glossa, but it just... was weird. I mean, anyone watching would just see Starscream lying there, revving his engines with himself. His mind just could not wrap itself around this.

Skyraider pulled away from the neck he was exploring so that he could at least look at the slightly fearful optics. "I want nothing more than to be _with_ you, Lord. We are separated, you and I," he said as his digits slid up to Starscream's servo, rather than the wrist. He was aiming to intertwine his digits with the red seeker's. "You are my home that I want to return to. I want to be _with_ you once again." He purred, squeezing the mech under him with his thighs.

Starscream leaned his helm back. "And how would that happen?" He didn't sound resigned yet, but Skyraider still looked encouraged.

"It can be as pleasant as you like... or as _horrible_ as you can possibly imagine."

"But I have a choice?"

Skyraider tensed, his seductive gaze turning dangerous. "You have the choice of me breaking your mind now and you'll become a blubbering idiot, or you can merge with me and we can take over Cybertron together."

Starscream made no indication that he was surprised by the response he got. "And all of those with ATD are given this choice?"

Skyraider frowned a little that there was still so much _talking_. "That makes the most logical sense. All the cases of ATD you investigated had some kind of hallucination; Blitzwing even asked if you had seen _him_ yet. Of course, when I heard that, I was tickled that he was referring to _me_."

Starscream tried to shift his weight a little, but Skyraider refused to let him move at all. "You mentioned before that I should have already succumbed. Does that mean that I'm holding out for some reason?"

Skyraider looked like he was getting downright pissed. "This is extremely tedious. I can read your mind, so I know your questions before you ask them. I also know you are trying to stall."

"You may be able to read my mind, but I can't access you. If I decide to... join you... then I will no longer _be_ myself as I know it. So please, just humor me."

Skyraider sighed heavily. "_Fine._ From the data I've collected in your subconscious, the other mechs fall into madness much quicker than you have. Even though Shockwave said that you had weeks, that was not entirely true. I'm not really sure why he lied. In any case, other mechs in your position would be blabbering about red eyes and turborats megacycles ago. But most mechs don't figure out that their splintered mind is trying to reconnect with them."

"Well thank you for the compliment."

Skyraider smirked. "Fragger." He lightly kissed Starscream's lip components. The other seeker still wasn't convinced but mildly tolerated the kiss. "By the time they've re-merged with their second selves, they are already beyond _thinking_ about it. But you... I have had trouble with you. There is something that you know that is keeping you sane longer."

Starscream frowned and looked away.

"Something you're not _proud_ of. And I know you intimately... It is hard to find something you are not stubbornly proud of."

Starscream met the other seeker's optics. "You said you figured it out."

"It was buried deep, so much that even I, _part_ of your subconscious, had trouble finding it. But all those with ATD seem to know collectively that something isn't right. Tell me, how is the foreign campaign going?"

Starscream glowered, but said nothing.

Skyraider smirked uncontrollably. "You're brilliant, you know. I don't mean that as part of your vanity being ingrained in my personality... But you really do impress me. And no one will ever _know_ how brilliant you are. But I will make sure you get your due. Come, Starscream, let us become one."

There was a knock at the door.

Skyraider snarled. "Ask who it is," he said, squeezing Starscream's wrists.

"What do you want?" Starscream said, his voice calm.

"My Lord, it's me. Perceptor was rather distressed about you so I cam to make sure you were alright."

_Primus_. Curse that idiotic shuttle.

"Tell me about it. Tell him to go away or I'll kill him."

Starscream growled. "You'll just kill him later when we become another ATD-addled mess."

Skyraider shrugged. "Either you tell him to go away, giving him the chance, or I will forcibly make you watch as your own hands rip out his spark. You forget I _know_ you Starscream, and I'm not afraid to use my knowledge against you."

Starscream glared. "Skyfire, I'm asking you nicely to leave now."

Skyraider's face went dark as he moved his hands from Starscream's wrists to his neck. "You _arrogant_ prick!"

Skyfire burst into the door, to see Starscream sputtering in a chair. It was as if he was being choked, but Skyfire saw nothing around him. He ran over to the seeker who started to punch the air in front of him.

Starscream landed a few punches to the seeker choking him, but still he held tight. "Once you slip unconscious," the black seeker said through a clenched jaw, "I'll make sure that not one of your Autocons will be functioning. Shockwave will then lock you up and you'll have no choice but to join me."

Starscream frantically looked to Skyfire. "I-ugh- I need you to point my null-ray at my helm."

Skyraider froze. "No. No no no no no, you do that and I'll-"

"What?" Skyfire said, distressed.

"Just- ack- do it!"

Skyfire used all of his strength to turn Starscream's wrist around to make it face the left side of his helm. Starscream was grimacing as he felt the tip of the ray scrap the side of his cheek.

"Manually set it for three quarters of maximum output," he said.

Skyraider used one servo to continue to choke the seeker, and used his other servo to stroke Starscream's cheek. "Starscream, _think_ about what you are doing. You might not survive this little experiment of yours-"

"Neither will _you_," he spat.

Skyfire glanced at Starscream as he opened up the plating on his arm to find the wires that would give him access to fire the null-ray. "Starscream, this isn't a good idea."

"Listen to him, we both _care _about you-"

"Silence. I know what I am- ugh doing."

Skyfire considered disobeying, knowing full well that the seeker was exhibiting signs of ATD. But he saw a look of such complete clarity and helplessness in Starscream's face that he followed what he said, logic be damned. "Alright, just tell me when." His digit wavered near the contact between two wires that would fire the gun manually once he touched them.

Starscream, despite his pain, grinned. "I guess this is goodbye."

Skyfire looked suddenly very distressed. "What? I don't understand."

Skyraider sagged. "We would have made a great team, you know."

"The cost of my sanity was too great." He quickly moved his arm into Skyfire's waiting servo, causing the null-ray to fire at his helm.

Skyfire yelped as he pulled back, not wanting to get caught in the ray. Starscream convulsed as if an electric current raced through him, but in reality it was just his system reacting to the burning/numbing sensation that racked his helm. He made a few painful screeches but they subsided once his system had sorted through all of the pain data.

Starscream continued to shake for a long time, but when he finally opened his optics, he slumped in relief that the black and green specter was gone.

He glanced at Skyfire who looked absolutely horrified at what he had just done. The shuttle had thought he killed Starscream, which was still a reprehensible act even after all of his years of suffering under the Decepticon Lords.

Starscream chuckled, wincing as he held his helm in his hand. "Good thing you came in when you did," he said, his voice crackling.

Skyfire still looked very concerned. "You never ask nicely, so I knew something was wrong."

The red seeker nodded, hissing at the pain that raddled in his head as he did so. "_Slag_, that really _does_ hurt."

Skyfire laughed nervously. "That has got to be one of the strangest requests I've ever been asked in my time as an Autocon."

Starscream smiled. "Well, we just invented a cure for ATD, so strangeness aside, it was worth it."

The white shuttle knelt down next to Starscream, gingerly using his servo to check the damage on Starscream's helm. The seeker allowed him to move his head, shutting his optics to the burning sensation that tingled down his neck that the little movement brought.

"How do you know it's gone?" he queried, slowly removing his servo.

"Because suddenly I have a wealth of information that I didn't have before. Apparently ATD overtaxes the subconscious, causing it to collect and process information alongside the consciousness... So even when I wasn't puzzling through the cure, it appears my subconscious _was_."

"And a zap to the helm was all it took?"

Starscream braced himself against the chair, testing to see if his pedes would hold him. "There is a point... a threshold. Once a mech crosses it, I don't know if they can be brought back. But I hadn't gone there. Thanks... to you."

Skyfire locked optics with the shorter red seeker as he rose from his seat. There were not many times in Starscream's extensive life where he had thanked someone, let alone the shuttle that had once been his friend. And the circumstances under which this gracious attitude had sprung were dubious at best: high-grade, a null-ray shot to the helm, insanity's slap still clear on his faceplate. But still, Starscream was genuine, and the shuttle silently praised Primus that his seeker friend had a modicum of civility to him.

"Now go get me something to clean up with, slave." But then he would open his mouth and the spell would be broken. Still Skyfire smirked wryly, having seen the ray of light peek through the clouds of bristling arrogance.

It was then that they heard a few shouts down the hallway. Starscream leaned against the wall for support as Skyfire went to the door, glancing down the corridor to see if he could discover what was amiss. Starscream groaned as he noticed one of his audio receptors had been ruptured, causing static to burst across his helm. He shut that audio off, but the mechanism let loose some energon from a line that had broken inside his helm. Rivulets of energon slid down the side of his faceplate as he tried to apply pressure to stop it. His helm was pounding and he knew he looked like a pathetic mess.

"The lights are out except for this room," Skyfire observed, turning to Starscream from the doorway.

"I need you to comm for a medic and find out what the slag is going on," he replied, carefully pulling his servo away from his helm. His optics widened a little bit by the amount of energon that stained his blue servo.

Skyfire opened his mouth to respond when he was hit over the helm by the butt of a plasma rifle. Starscream froze as he stared at the downed shuttle. He slowly looked up at the mech standing over Skyfire and his internals lurched.

"Shockwave."

"Starscream," the single red optic peered from the darkness of the corridor. "We have some matters to discuss."

* * *

A/N: Maybe I made it too obvious throughout, but I know I got at least one of you. :) Anyway, the shiny review button has a cookie waiting on the other end...


	13. The Revelation

A/N: Surprise! And now the falling action. Heh, I'm formulaic at least in that sense. This hopefully answers more questions than it raises. If you've ever seen Van Helsing (kinda a "meh" movie for me) with Hugh Jackman, I remember the writer/director focusing the whole movie around one scene where he turns from a werewolf to a human while holding the dead body of the girl... This is my scene. I wrote everything else for this little modicum of a revelation back in February during that HELL of a snowstorm we got, leaving me trapped in my apartment for weeks. So I hope you enjoy it, and here's to the end rapidly approaching.

* * *

"Shockwave."

"Starscream," the single red optic peered from the darkness of the corridor. "We have some matters to discuss."

Starscream huffed his vents. Why was this happening all _now_? He had half a mind to tell the gunformer off until he noticed the energon stains.

Shockwave was _painted_ with energon. Splatters, servo-prints, oil, purge fluid, and other unidentifiable substances dripped down the front of the gunformer's chassis. Starscream bit his glossa and tried to not panic.

Shockwave cocked his helm to the side as he strode into the room. "Why are you bleeding?" he said evenly.

Starscream sagged a little as another wave of dizziness surged through his helm. That unfortunately caused Shockwave to close the distance between them even faster.

"Stay _away_ from me," he said as he clenched his jaw.

Shockwave stopped just in front of the seeker, flicking his optic over his frame. "That doesn't look too good," he said as the side of Starscream's helm sparked. Starscream gave a small cry of pain that ended in a hiss as he gingerly grabbed the side of his helm.

Shockwave's optic danced. "This does not upset my plans in the least. We need to have a discussion, you and I. I came to collect you."

Starscream growled. "And what, you developed ATD and killed half a dozen mechs on your way over here?"

"More like thirty," he said.

Starscream couldn't keep the fear out of his optics. "W-what?"

Shockwave nimbly grabbed Starscream's wing and steered him out of the room. "Enough talk. We have a deadline." He moved Starscream through the corridors where they encountered several Decepticons fighting to the death. Some Autocons were running away, and those that didn't were torn to shreds by their hunters.

Bedlam. Total and complete chaos.

Apparently Starscream's estate was just one of many in which the whole Decepticon population had invaded and began to tear things apart. There were fires, explosions as the crazed mechs searched for Autocons to maim and destroy.

"When did-"

"All about an hour ago. It seems over a third of the population had latent ATD. And as soon as Megatron left- well," he used a free servo to sweep the landscape. "You can see."

Starscream tripped over some arms that had no body in sight. If he weren't so shocked, he might have noticed they belonged to two separate mechs. His helm continued to pound from the null-ray shot, but also from the sheer amount of data he was trying to process. Primus, it seemed as if all of Cybtertron had descended into insanity.

Starscream allowed himself to be dumbly pushed through the scene. A crazed car-alt came up to them, trying to rip into Starscream's neck, but Shockwave deftly put both if his servos in the mech's mouth and pulled up and down. The mech's helm ripped open like he was using a can opener.

The seeker had fear completely written on his faceplate and he shuddered as Shockwave relished in the spray of energon dripping onto his frame.

Starscream tried to back away to run, but Shockwave was too fast and grabbed him by the back of the neck. "I _told _you, we have a deadline."

He angled Starscream to continue the walk towards Iacon.

* * *

Entire estates were abandoned as they made their trek across the city-state. Shockwave had commandeered a triple changer that didn't have ATD and they rode in relative silence in the back of his shuttle bay. The triple changer had looked to the two former officers and High Lords for hope, but Starscream remained silent as he nursed his head while Shockwave acted like the triple changer didn't exist.

Starscream sat across from the gunformer and tried to figure him out. He was still calm, but he was also madder than any ATD inspired mech he had seen thus far. He seemed obsessed with this deadline he kept babbling about, and anything that stood in his way was torn to pieces. The gunformer retained most of his higher functions, and even though the seeker could see him twitch when an Autocon ran by to escape, he could still control himself to continue forward. Starscream was afraid that this massive amount of control wouldn't last long. Still, Shockwave was defending him as they made their way towards Iacon, but Starscream couldn't shake the sinking feeling in the back of his mind: saved for _what_?

They could see out over the city-states that the power was out almost entirely in Vos except for a few safe rooms where High Lords huddled trying to escape the madness. Some Autocons had managed to escape to these rooms to hide from their masters, but most were not that lucky.

The colosseum was already decimated, having been pristine and new just a few hours earlier. An energon explosion had taken out half of it, and apparently Trypticon had cut some corners to have it completed, so the rest of the columns followed quickly. The entire rebuilt planet of Cybertron was falling apart in an instant. Granted, Decepticon engineering was not known for its stability, but it didn't help that the mechs suffering from ATD had only destruction on their minds. And with so few Autocons surviving, they now turned on Decepticons as well.

Starscream still couldn't believe how quickly everything had happened, and why it had coincided with Megatron's departure for the front lines. He thought that perhaps everyone that wasn't already suffering had been "attacked" by their own versions of Skyraider at the same time, causing them to fall apart into madness. Starscream quickly tried to think on something else, fearing that simply thinking of the black seeker would rise him from the grave.

Luckily, they reached Megatron's estate in Iacon. When the triple changer landed, Shockwave grabbed Starscream and led him out of the mech, who then transformed, watching the two of them with a nervous look

"Stay here, I'll be right back," Shockwave said, pulling Starscream behind him as they made their way into Megatron's estate.

Starscream was rather silent about everything. He had _no_ idea why they were here of all places, but it beat being outside in that insanity. Shockwave seemed single-minded about getting them here, and while that bothered Starscream, he felt safe at the moment. They wove through the narrow hallways and descended into catacombs beneath the main structure. Finally they came to a door with a code pad on it, that Shockwave quickly punched in. Starscream dimly wondered how Shockwave knew all of these codes, surmising that the gunformer probably spent some time here. On second thought, that was another image he would rather not think upon.

When they entered, Shockwave roughly tossed Starscream into a chair. The seeker gave a surprised noise and then hissed some more, noticing that the rough treatment and the walk over had caused his wound to start weeping again. When he put his servo to his helm again, he finally noticed the room he was in. As well as the other occupants.

Optimus, Ratchet, Cliffjumper, and Hound were all chained to the wall, conscious and unharmed. Starscream looked at Shockwave with confusion and was promptly slapped in the faceplate. He gave a surprised cry, more taken aback than hurt, except that his helm felt like it ripped a little more around his wound.

Shockwave shrugged. "Sorry, I've always wanted to do that but was too sane to do it."

Starscream closed his mouth, glowering. "What am I doing here?"

The gunformer indicated the mechs on the wall. "Your audience. Not yet complete, I still have more to collect. But they are here for your final performance."

Starscream's wings betrayed him by turning down and backwards with uncertainty. "...Final?"

"Don't worry, it will be a little bit of improv and telling the truth. One of which will be very hard for you, but you'll do fine."

Starscream frowned, his optics looking a little pitying. "You've gone mad."

Shockwave nodded. "Yes, yes, I know. Nothing to do about it now." He went and checked the chains on the silent and wary Autocons. Starscream checked his weapons: one half charge on one null-ray. Great. I could tickle him.

He felt more energon dripping down his neck, feeling even more dizzy and sick from the loss of energon. He had blown a huge part of his faceplate off, and charred the surrounding helm metal. Along with his audios malfunctioning, he felt his left optic stutter a little, a slight second delay compared to his right. That only made him more disoriented.

"You alright over there?" Shockwave called as he tightened a chain around Optimus.

Starscream nodded, a little too quickly. He gasped and then grimaced as he felt something pop.

Shockwave walked over to him, grabbing his chin roughly and turning it so he could get a good look. Starscream sagged in the chair he was in, feeling the room about to spin.

"Oh no you don't! Doctor, what do I do?"

Ratchet looked flustered at being addressed by his profession and also by this ATD mech who held them all captive. "Uh-well..."

Shockwave shook Starscream as the mech began to go into a systems failure. "Slag. This will not do." Shockwave un-subspaced the plasma rifle and fired once at the chains, freeing Ratchet. "Save him or I shoot Optimus."

Ratchet rubbed his wrists but then quickly went to the pained seeker as he slipped into unconsciousness. "Starscream, can you hear anything out of here?" He indicated the left side of his helm by gently touching it.

Starscream snapped back, desperately trying to stay awake. "I shut off se audios," he slurred. A groan and a hiss punctuated the end of his reply.

Ratchet nodded, looking to Shockwave. "I need my tools to help him."

Shockwave un-subspaced two emergency medical kits that he had obviously found while meandering across the post-apocalyptic scene outside. "I didn't know if they were complete inside so I grabbed two. I figured I'd have to be patching one of you up at some point."

Ratchet looked a little disconcerted, but nodded, quickly taking out a welder and some metal braces to try and stitch the energon lines back up. "Hold him down," he said, using the welder to quickly melt some loose wiring in Starscream's helm. Shockwave held the seeker tightly as he tensed and tried to flail. Once Ratchet stopped welding, he placed the braces along the lines, stopping their flow. Starscream relaxed in Shockwave's arms, and dimly was aware that he was being asked a question.

"Starscream? I asked how this happened."

Starscream groaned. "I shot myself in the helm on... three quarter setting."

Ratchet was incredulous. "Are you crazy too? What the hell were you thinking?"

Starscream locked optics with Ratchet and replied through a clenched jaw, "I was thinking that becoming a mad mech like this one would be a stupid career choice. And _will _you get off me? He's done." He glared at Shockwave who was still holding the seeker.

"Sorry. Always wanted to do that too."

Starscream looked disgusted and very, very tired all at once. His head still throbbed but the pain had lessened. Shockwave slowly let him go and stepped back. He then looked to Ratchet and grabbed his wrists while he shackled them again to the wall. The gunformer wasn't rough, but he was certainly firm. "I'll remember your acquiescence later," he said to the medic. Ratchet looked a little surprised and gave a "WTF?" look to Optimus next to him.

Shockwave then turned around and went out the door. Starscream wildly spun around to look at the door, noticing that he was, in fact, gone. Did he really just leave them? He tried to rise as quickly as possible from his seat, but his cast-off equilibrium was making standing straight rather difficult. The seeker then made his way over to Optimus and started messing with the chains.

"Do you know what he's planning?" Optimus asked as Starscream frowned at the chain. It was double-welded and not going to break, especially with his lack of strength.

Starscream shook his head at the query. "I have no plans to _find out_. If I get you out of here, you have to let me go my own way. Deal?"

Optimus locked optics with the seeker. "What's it like out there? Shockwave just came and dragged us down here after Megatron left."

Starscream grunted as he tried to see if the chains would give; they did not. "It's... it's a mess out there," he said simply. He turned around to search the room for something he could use to pry or burn off their chains, but he didn't find much, and he knew how waning his null-rays were.

Suddenly the door opened back up and Shockwave strode into the room. Starscream had tried to pull back to seem like he was just talking to Optimus, but it was to no avail. "Ah, I knew I had forgotten something."

Starscream tried to act casually, but when Shockwave picked him up around the waist and threw him in the chair, his face twisted into a snarl. The seeker tried to protest, but Shockwave held a digit up to where his mouth _would _be, calling for silence. "Just be glad I don't use your wings to tie you to the chair."

Starscream stopped squirming and glared at the gunformer. "I still don't understand why _I_ am here," Starscream said.

Shockwave pulled extra tight on the chains and his optic danced merrily when the seeker winced. "You have some explaining to do, but not yet. We don't have a full audience."

Starscream leaned his helm back on the chair in exasperation. "This is absolute madness. Just let me go, and I'll try and see if what cured me will cure you."

Shockwave nodded, humming to himself. He did not make any indication that he had actually heard Starscream. The seeker was about to shout another tirade of curses at the gunformer, but then bit his tongue when the plasma rifle came back out. He settled for a scrunched up scowl.

"_Don't_ try to escape, _don't_ try and cure me, and don't, don't, don't! Talk to each other." He patted Starscream's helm and then brought out a vocal inhibitor collar. Starscream's optics went wide, and he started to explain, _profusely_, that he had no intention of talking- but as the collar snapped on, his voice was now silent. Not even static.

"Haha, that is perhaps the best thing I've ever done to you. Well, almost..." he said, raising an optic brow. Starscream looked at him with revulsion and tried to struggle to express his discontent. "G'bye, gents! Be back quite soon." The door shut closed with a swish, and Starscream screamed in silence.

Shockwave came back with a few more scars and he was carrying the Lamborghini twins under his arms. They were unconscious, but otherwise unhurt and Shockwave nimbly began to chain them to the wall as well. Starscream huffed his vents in irritation at being completely ignored. Shockwave just gave the seeker his equivalent to a smile, and walked towards him. With a gentle brush, Shockwave trailed his clawed servo from Starscream's cockpit to the wound in his helm. Starscream froze. Shockwave just shrugged and pulled away.

From that, Shockwave left and returned at least a half dozen more times, finding more Autocons to add to his collection. He managed to find a weeping, gray, car-alt femme, along with quite a few _known_ mechs including Prowl, Jazz, Ironhide, a near-death Red Alert, Bumblebee, a still unconscious Skyfire, and Perceptor. All the mechs were chained to the wall, given some energon and treated for their wounds. The more vocal ones were given a vocal inhibitor, but most just sat quietly, wary. They had no idea what this crazy mech planned, and many of them didn't want to set him off. Most of them had barely escaped with their own lives themselves.

Starscream stopped struggling after the first cycle. Still, he made sure to huff his vents angrily every time Shockwave entered the safe room, but the gunformer would just pat his head or give some other kind of affectionate gesture. After Skyfire and Perceptor came in, the seeker tried a new tactic: Pleading. His optics begged to be set free, and he mouthed "Please," when he caught the gunformer's optic.

That earned him a hand on the back of his helm and a strong force that sent his faceplate into the table before him. The contact made a metallic _smack_ that made some of the Autocons wince. The seeker was dazed, but not unconscious. He glared at the gunformer who made no explanation for his action and then left yet again.

This time, Optimus tried to talk to the red seeker. "Starscream: nod once for yes, and shake your head for no." The seeker glared, but nodded curtly to indicate he understood. The other Autocons quieted their conversations to see what the Decepticon would say.

"Does he have ATD?"

A huff of the vents and a nod.

"Do _you_?" Ratchet asked, looking to the seeker suspiciously.

"He... did," came the pained reply from Skyfire. The shuttle was waking up, slowly, and the dent on his helm didn't look like it _aided_ in his regaining consciousness. "That's why he shot himself. It seemed to have killed off the glitch that was causing the disorder." Skyfire then winced himself.

"Will that cure all the Decepticons?" Optimus asked now, hopeful.

Starscream shook his head, slowly. Skyfire and Perceptor filled them in on what he knew of the disorder and Starscream's last statements before the shuttle was knocked out.

"And you believe Shockwave and everyone else is too far gone."

A nod.

"Do you know what he is planning?"

Starscream hesitated then shook his head.

"Why'd you hesitate?" Ratchet said, now bristling.

Starscream rolled his optics and then just shrugged.

"Did you do that to Wheeljack?" Ironhide said, quietly.

Starscream raised his optics to meet the blue ones. He did not reply. Ironhide's faceplate darkened, but he said nothing, choosing to look away in a grimace.

Optimus chose to drop it. "Do you think Megatron has it?"

Starscream thought on that a moment and then shook his head.

This time Prowl interjected. "He seems to be the most likely candidate."

Optimus nodded. "I don't understand, you say he _doesn't _have ATD?"

Starscream nodded. He mouthed, "Not crazy." Then he considered his statement and then mouthed, "Well..."

The door burst open yet again, and this time Shockwave carried two of the five aerialbots, Silverbolt and Air Raid. "I'm afraid this is all I could find important enough to save."

Optimus looked a little crestfallen and was about to argue, but he noticed Starscream shaking his head in warning. Once the gunformer locked them away, he turned in a grand flourish to the captured seeker. Starscream pulled back a little at the sudden movement. "Now Starscream, it's time for your performance. Don't be shy..." He grasped a hold of the collar and ripped it from the seeker's neck, causing Starscream to cough.

"I still don't understand what you want from me..." He said, rasping.

"I want the truth. Not the truth you've convinced yourself, but the _truth_. The one that only you and Megatron know."

That caused the seeker to go a little rigid, something all those conscious in the room recognized.

"Ah, so there _is_ something that you know. That they don't. But I do, now that I'm crazy enough to consider it..." Starscream calmly considered the purple mech before him. Somehow Shockwave's calm, logical strings of nonsense were scarier than the rants of idiocy the other mechs produced when going mad.

"So we'll start here." He pulled out his plasma rifle and took a seat next to the seeker. "Confess."

Starscream looked at the gunformer incredulously.

Shockwave's face darkened as his servo made its way onto the seeker's wing. He clenched, wrinkling and denting the sensitive plating, and eliciting a shout from Starscream.

"_Tell_ me what you _mean_," the red one asked.

"Alright. Revelation number one: Why have the Autocons been able to meet 'secretly,'" he asked, air quotes intact, "on several occasions?"

Starscream huffed his vents but stalled on the reply, earning another faceplant into the table. Shockwave's servo held him there as the seeker grunted and tried to flail out of the grip. "Well, I can answer this one. You see, Megatron, Starscream, and Soundwave cooked up this little idea that we _allow_ you to rebel in small, controlled settings. So your meetings? We had a hidden camera every time. The Lordless? They are equipped with hidden cameras that they don't even know about. We've seen _everything_."

There were a few open-mouthed gapes, and a few stubborn looks of disbelief. Optimus however just fixed the gunformer with a steely gaze that neither hinted to inner turmoil nor showed a questioning of the statement as fact. Shockwave then threw Starscream's head back into its original position as he ignored the glare of death the seeker had trained on him.

"Second, and perhaps bigger: how is Rodimus doing?" His optic danced merrily, but Starscream saw a wealth of sadness in the depths, suggesting that Shockwave did not like the answer either.

Starscream ground his denta. "I'm not sure Megatron would approve-"

A plasma rifle was in his neck, warm. "Megatron's going to have to start over anyway since the whole planet's gone to the Pit. Humor me." Again, a sad look peeking from behind the madness.

Starscream sighed, resignedly. "Rodimus has been dead since before the Autobots surrendered."

Silence.

Shockwave shuttered his optic. "Let me preempt the cries of rage and ask, how do you know?"

"I saw his gray frame. He was killed by sharpshooters shortly before the final battle. All the witnesses have since... died so that his death would remain a secret and we could use him for propaganda."

Shockwave quietly stared and swept his gaze over the captured Autocons. "And what purpose would that serve?"

"It would create false hope, and then any action the Autocons would take would be stalled as they tried to make contact with him."

Optimus maintained his quiet gaze, but many of the other Autocons were horrified. All the propaganda, all their efforts, _everything_: wasted.

"Then who have the Decepticons been fighting?" Shockwave asked.

Starscream swallowed. "They have been fighting... themselves. We reanimate the corpses and they continue to fight."

"Elaborate."

Starscream just stared at Shockwave for a couple of kliks. This had been the knowledge that had kept Starscream so sane for so long, but finding out under such strange circumstances might prove to push the crazed Decepticon over the edge.

Still. He had guarded the secrets for a very long time; they had begun to fester in his mind.

"Not long after the Autobots surrendered, a large number of cases where Decepticons lost control around the prisoners came to my attention. It started off among mechs that had not been near any type of fighting recently and they described the experiences as out of body- as if they had no control over their actions. Megatron immediately assigned myself and the others with a scientific background to plumb the possible causes.

"We quickly discovered that Decepticons were going crazy because there was a lack of fighting.

"It appeared that we have manipulated ourselves so much that we can no longer function in society as we are: we have to fight. And thus Autobot or Autocon Targeting Disorder was born. It was an amalgamation of all of our fighting subroutines and would lash out at often inopportune times: when interrogating a prisoner, prisoner transport, etc. Back then, it was never more than a nuisance, and stayed predominantly with the lower ranks.

"But then it became widespread. Soon, even those that had fought in the Earth campaign began to demonstrate symptoms, and everyone was on edge that the mad masses might mutiny. So I devised a distraction... one that I had hoped would give Decepticons a chance to stretch their warring legs, so to speak."

Shockwave nodded. "And thus: Rodimus."

Starscream nodded slowly, avoiding the optics of the mechs on the wall. "We needed a mech to blame and continue the war if need be. If only to save our sanity. But it became a way to kill two turbobirds with one stone: save sanity and distract the now enslaved Autobots."

Optimus then spoke. "But it didn't work."

Starscream was silent, his faceplate emotionless. Then he replied, quietly, "It worked at first. ATD cases went down, mechs came back from the war 'cured.' But then they had relapses that were even worse than their original onset. Soon they began to attack Autocons and Decepticons alike. So we created VORC or Veterans of Recent Campaigns. Only the mechs who had exhibited signs of ATD were sent to the front lines, so when they came back and failed back in society, they then were sent to VORC."

"And our 'cons were fighting other 'cons." Shockwave leaned back in his chair.

"That was not my idea, but we needed to have them fight _something_. We used some nanobots and some creative circuitry, then had them repainted and sent back to fight our own armies. Anyway, it seemed to at least slow the rest of the population's descent into madness."

"And so: red eyes."

Starscream froze, looking at Shockwave carefully. "_What_ did you say?"

"Why are there only red eyes? Oh yes. I am quite aware of your conversation with Blitzwing. Truth is, I too was exhibiting signs of ATD long before you, but you sped up your process by drinking heavily. It seems whenever the mind is impaired, the turbocats will play... So our crazy soldiers were made even _madder_ when they were only greeted by the acerbic red rather than that calm, steely blue. Huh. It seems you only sped up the process."

Starscream didn't reply.

"And I suppose that explains why you didn't develop it as fast as the rest of us. Subconsciously, your mind knew the deception and so there was never any reason to _splinter_. At least, not right away."

"You are all such a bunch of fraggin' _idiots_," Ironhide spat. "You deserve everything that is happening to you. Did you really thinking that pretending you're Primus would get you _anywhere_?"

"Ironhide," Optimus said, not unkindly. They all sat there as their CPUs swirled with the new information. Starscream's mind was racing in a different direction: getting the slag out of here. Now that he had explained everything, there was not much use Shockwave could have for him.

The gunformer sagged as if a weight had been released off of him. It felt so _good_ to finally know some truth, something tangible, something_ correct_. He had known for some time that there was some kind of secret plan between the seeker and Megatron, and it was not his place to ask unless the seeker stepped out of line. But still, being in the dark so long had cost his and most other Decepticon's sanity or their lives.

And Optimus thought along similar lines, lamenting all the needless deaths, especially among his forces, that had occurred because the Decepticons had stopped at nothing to win the war.

"So where do we go from here?" Optimus ventured, feeling his spark turn suddenly with a pulse from the Matrix of Leadership. It had long since been dormant when he had thought Rodimus had taken up the mantle, but he felt its warm presence reverberate through his frame, reminding him his duty to Cybertron, to Primus, and to the _free_ world.

Shockwave tilted his head. "Well, I killed all of my Autocons on my estate, so luckily I have you all."

Some whimpers. "Why the Pit did you rescue us just to kill us?" cried Ironhide.

"It's a matter of _timing_. You now know what caused this insanity, and now you will die. But you will die with the truth, which is the only gift I can give you under the circumstances. I respect the Autobots and their former place as our worst enemies, and it would be a crime to allow you to fade without at least one proper farewell."

Starscream growled as he whirred his fans on high. "You would kill Megatron's favorite Autocon?" He just needed a few more kliks of warming up his null-rays.

"Megatron left _him_. I wonder, why did he leave to inspect the front lines if he _knew_ that there was no _true_ war going on."

"I haven't the slaggiest idea. But I do know he'll be displeased that you didn't leave any Autocons left for him."

"_Starscream,_ let's be honest. There are no Autocons left. Just displaced, and now _extinct_ Autobots."

Sparks flew from the seeker's left arm where the circuitry to his null-ray was still exposed. Even though he only had half of a charge it was enough for him melt and burn the chains off. He didn't stop to think, and plowed into the gunformer, thrashing and punching as hard and as fast as he could. The seeker didn't have much of an advantage, but he still surprised the bigger mech enough to get a few dazing punches in.

Shockwave, however, was very willing to play dirty. With one swipe he reopened Starscream's wounds on his helm, but Starscream continued to thrash despite the energon running down his faceplate. The Autobots were not exactly sure who to cheer on: Shockwave had threatened to kill them and Starscream was not necessarily a better option. Most of them watched in interest, and the others used the distraction to try and break through their own bonds.

One hard punch to the helm sent Starscream into a short stall, giving Shockwave an opportunity to grab his wings and pull, _hard_. The seeker screamed in rage, taking his fingers and getting a grab hold of Shockwave's optic. With one hard yank, the optic came unattached and dimmed. Shockwave let out a bellowing wail as his vision disappeared. He flailed in the air, but didn't make contact to the seeker who dodged him easily.

Finally, Starscream wrapped a chain around the gunformer's mech, pulling hard. This cut off Shockwave's intakes, and his system shut down lest it overheat. He then stood up, shakily, and turned to the captives.

They stared back in silence, curious about the mech that now held their fate in his servos. According to Shockwave, they were the last ones worthy of saving. Did that mean they were the last Autobots left?

The seeker placed a steadying servo on the table, locking optics with Optimus. "I can release all of you and get you off planet. In exchange I need you to get me into functioning condition and let me go my own way."

Optimus stared long at the seeker, regarding him as if the first time. High Lord of Vos, author of lies, and rescuer of the last remaining Autobots.

The seeker tilted his head in impatience. "He's going to wake up and kill me, so you don't have much time to decide, _Prime_."

The word was nothing in itself, but hearing it from him was something else entirely. It gave the title dimension, truth, _power_. Spoken from an enemy, seemingly rational as of now, but quite possibly a very dangerous future adversary.

He didn't look to his fellow Autobots for help with the decision. He knew he didn't need it.

"Under one condition: you must also guarantee every Autobot's safety between now and when we reach this ship you're going to give us."

"Pfft. I can't do that Prime. Every Decepticon we encounter is going to try and attack us, and they are killing Autobots as we speak."

"Then to the best of your ability. And if we detect you shirking this responsibility, we will make sure to hand you over to your adoring public." A few cracked smiles, and a look of glowering dread.

"Fine then." He picked up the plasma rifle and shot off their chains.


	14. The Escape

A/N: Final chapter, but there will be an epilogue. I want to go ahead and start thanking you guys now for following me so far and prodding me when I might have let this lie. So here it is, and as always, please read and review!

Also, to tide you over, I've started another fic called _Comfort Conditioning_. Anyway, if you like you some seeker, you might like it. :)

Epilogue will follow before Friday.

* * *

They walked in silence, keeping the more wounded in the middle of them. Starscream led the way, obviously angry that he had to _walk_ but, to his credit, he didn't complain. They were headed back towards Vos, and most assumed he had some kind of hidden ship somewhere that they could use to get off planet.

Ratchet didn't think their ragtag group looked like much. The twins were exhausted but still exuberant that their legs were now online after years of being in stasis; seekers that remembered jet judo had decreed that these two couldn't use their pedes for even walking. Bumblebee, Hound, and Cliffjumper were a little worse for wear considering they were the last ones that had been in "accidents" for meetings. The mechs from the gladiatorial games looked still a little shocked from their battle nearly a megacycle ago, and the added carnage they were going through now did not seem to cheer them up. The rest of them, especially the fliers, stayed in the back, ready to jump into the air if trouble came their way.

Optimus kept up with Starscream and was stoic in his silence. Ratchet thought this was a little out of character, but he was afraid to question Prime. Now that he was Prime again.

They all felt really... betrayed. Well, they had already been enslaved, but this was insult to injury. The more self-critical felt like complete morons for falling for it, while the more level-headed were amazed at the scope of the deception. Apparently, the Decepticons really did think that rising up was a viable future for the Autobots, so in a way, all of their efforts were a twisted compliment.

But all Optimus saw was waste. A waste of time, of resources, of _life_. Primus-sparked lives lay dashed to ribbons on the pavement where they now walked. Gray faceplates full of horror and twisted in the last painful throes of a terrible death littered the path they took. They saw few survivors of the onslaught, and even fewer who were actually sane.

Starscream too looked spent. He had conquered his demons only to discover that he was the only one who had done so successfully. He was alone. And somewhere, Megatron was probably laughing since this all had occurred on _his_ watch. Starscream was now the bloody-fragging leader of the Decepticons, who were now mindless droves of violent slag.

They camped every few cycles since so many of them were weakened. Starscream and Optimus never recharged, despite their medic commanding them to do otherwise. On some level, the two respected the other, but on another, they didn't trust the other enough to recharge anywhere near them.

They finally reached Vos, finding mostly seekers lying in the streets. Many thought it must have been weird for Starscream to see their dead forms, echoes of his own. The seeker just scanned each one to make sure it was not one of his trinemates. That was the last thing he needed right now.

The streets were almost silent now, since the fires had mostly died down and the booms of explosions had ceased. The planet was dark, in the shadow of night and no electricity illuminated the cities. They camped near Starscream's former estate. When they were ready to move on, most were a little dismayed to find that Starscream kept walking.

"I thought you were taking us to your ship."

The seeker spun on Ironhide. "It's not _mine_. It's just up the road."

"Where are we going, Starscream?" Optimus now, wary.

The seeker shook with frustration. "I... can't say. That is, I'm not sure, but I'm about 75% sure I'm right. I'm not asking you to trust me, since that is apparently out of the question, but I am asking you to wait just a little longer before you string me up by my energon lines."

Ratchet spoke, giving a long look at Optimus. "We promised not to hurt you."

The seeker sneered. "I'm not so sure anymore." He spun around and continued to stalk up the road towards another estate.

Ratchet sped up to catch Prime. "We're not going to go back on our word, are we?"

Optimus was silent.

"But we survived-"

"Let's just see where he is taking us, and then we'll go from there." Ratchet's face darkened a little. Optimus seemed to be bearing more scars than he had originally shown.

They finally reached an estate that was just as destitute as the rest. Starscream sighed, pushing rubble out of the way. "Scan for high energy outputs."

"This is Thundercracker's estate..." Skyfire said, quietly. Starscream nodded as he kicked some metal out of his path.

"We came all this way to see if your _trinemate_ was still alive?" Ironhide bellowed, making for the seeker as if he was going to convert him into a ground-pounder, by _servo_.

Starscream took a step back as Ratchet and Jazz stood in the way. "Come'on man, please cool down. We're so close."

"Over here!" called Perceptor. He was standing in front of a charred wall that was dented and scraped, but intact. Starscream took a seat on some debris and watched as the Autobots raced over to see what Perceptor had found.

Optimus looked back at Starscream, narrowing his optics at the seeker's curious behavior. "Try knocking," the seeker called.

Ratchet tentatively knocked on the huge wall. After a few moments, they heard hissing and components rearranging themselves to reveal a hidden door that popped out of the previously smooth surface. The Autobots stepped back, and were quickly greeted by over a hundred weapons powering up in their faceplates.

Optimus blanched, stepping back from the guns pointed at him. He angrily thought for a moment that he should never have trusted the seeker when-

"_Optimus_?" came the refrain. The weapons deactivated, revealing Autocons, now Autobots. Hundreds of faces peered out from inside the doorway, now obvious that there was some serious subspacing hiding the huge complex behind the wall.

Skydive held out his servo for Optimus. "Welcome to Sanctuary, sir. We dared to hope you made it through the riot."

Optimus shook it, still stunned. "How many of you are there?"

"Over 492, sir. We saved all that we could, but we could not save everyone."

Optimus and the others still smiled at the number. They had thought they were the only ones left. Their universe was just a little bit brighter. "How did you-"

"We owe it all to him, sir. He bought us and let us build our own community." A blue seeker lowered his weapon and beamed at the newcomers.

The weary Autobots could not hide a little of their apprehension at the seeker, having been fighting Decepticons all day and dealing with an eerily similar-looking one as well. Still they smiled, and greeted him.

"We were just waiting for survivors and a communication from Rodimus before we left."

The new Autobots looked very woeful, and they avoided optic-contact with their brethren. Optimus looked stern but replied, truthfully, "Rodimus is dead. We will all remember him as the hero that he was, but we can no longer wait."

Skydive nodded. "Of course. We will be away shortly then. Come in, you all look like you need some medical attention. First Aide, can you help me over here? Inferno, help them carry Red Alert in. You all could use some energon, too."

Thundercracker looked to Ratchet who happened to be closest. "How did you find us?"

Ratchet threw a nod towards Starscream, who sat and observed them from a distance.

The blue seeker's optics focused on him, showing a little bit of sadness. "Is he-"

"He's not currently, but he's lost a lot of energon from his head wound. He seems very exhausted, so I don't know what that his doing for his mental stability. He and Skyfire say that he is cured."

Thundercracker nodded, slowly winding through the crowd of reuniting mechs to go to his trinemate.

The red seeker regarded his approach without emotion, sighing. "Nice place you have here." He considered smiling, but couldn't pull his faceplate into that position.

"You knew all along?"

"I guessed much later. I gained some... new information recently that made me rethink all those times you reset your max Autocon number. Makes a lot of sense now."

"And how did you come across all of them?" He poked a thumb digit in the direction of the new arrivals. "You have nearly the entire former Autobot command."

Starscream shook his head. "They'll be happy to tell you. Doubtless you'd rather hear their story anyway."

Silence. Thundercracker stood quietly, staring at the red seeker with only pity. Starscream turned his gaze away towards the stars. There they twinkled without judgment, without pity, without emotion. The same for everyone, yet unreachable, and unattainable for many.

"Uncle Starscream!" came a jubilant cry as the two sparklings burst from the crowd toward the two seekers. Thundercracker quickly held up a halting servo, and surprisingly, the children obeyed.

"Wait until we are finished, and then you can greet him," the blue seeker said, his parent voice in full effect. It was both kind and firm, soft and hard, and loving while reproachful. They obeyed with a slight look of dismay, but turned around back towards the Autobots who had noted the interaction.

Starscream looked sadly at his trinemate. "I don't have it."

"But you did. And you still came near my sparklings." Starscream looked ashamed; such a rare emotion that Thundercracker had a hard time identifying it at first. "You said you were going away for a while. You knew what was happening to you."

"I would never-" he began, but then he stopped himself. With Skyraider's help... maybe he was capable of it. He closed his mouth and looked again to the sky, saying nothing more. The blue seeker nodded as if confirming something for himself and stared into the sky as well.

"How could this happen?" Starscream said, staring out at the wreckage of Cybertron. TC looked a little surprised at the query; it was exactly what he was thinking himself.

"How could we have prevented it?" TC countered, taking a seat next to his former comrade. He gently tilted Starscream's helm to get a look at the wound, noticing it had been patched up. Starscream allowed the touch, even welcomed it after everything today.

Starscream sighed. There were a wealth of ways that it could have been prevented, but all of it was in the distant past. It seemed that their path towards destruction had been decided long before they had won the war. "I don't know," he answered, finally. Another truth.

Thundercracker released his trinemate, looking the mech over. He was scraped, banged-up, covered in flecks of paint and energon that was both his own and not his own, and his fragile pedes looked like they had been ground into the asphalt with a sander. And that was only his physical description. The red seeker seemed _defeated_, which was scary. Apocalyptic.

"Where's Skywarp?" Starscream ventured, quietly. Thundercracker remained still.

"After the colosseum, he came back here and left. I don't know where he is."

Starscream shuttered his optics. "Liar," he said, turning away. .

Thundercracker felt cleaning fluid well in his optics. He returned his gaze to the stars, trying to filter the tears back down into his optics, to no avail. "He... attacked the sparklings."

Starscream nodded, his faceplate turning back. He wore a pained expression as he hunched over, his elbows going to his thighs. He wrung his servos quietly.

"I... do you really want to hear this?" Thundercracker asked, his voice suddenly raw.

Starscream stared into nothing, not replying. He seemed to be drifting, and Thundercracker wondered if he should leave to go get another evaluation. Starscream might not have ATD, but that didn't mean he hadn't broken with reality.

Still, the blue seeker remained by his trinemate. His last trinemate. It had hurt him so much to take Skywarp from this world, but it had been on instinct. The black and purple seeker had seen someone in the corridor and went to go check it out, and when he came back he made for the sparklings. At first, they all thought it was some kind of game until he roughly grabbed Terrorwing's helm and tried to twist it. Thundercracker had only kliks to recognize the move and the intent on Skywarp's part to carry it out, so he punched him, freeing his sparkling from the grip of his uncle. They had brawled for a while, Skywarp suddenly feral, hissing and growling as they fought. It seemed as if he wasn't even Skywarp anymore, which had made things easier. His sparklings saw an opening and Blitzburst grabbed Terrorwing's arm and made a dash for the exit. Skywarp had noticed their escape and smiled manically.

Before he could teleport out, Thundercracker had shot him in the spark chamber. His friend and trinemate fell to the floor, graying as his spark terminated. The blue seeker had fallen to his knees and cradled him in his arms crying _why_? Primus, _why._

Starscream looked back towards the opening to Sanctuary. They were the only ones left outside and his now on-edge fighting routines screamed at him to get out of the open. He quieted them, feeling suddenly very numb and indifferent.

"We should probably go inside," he stated.

Thundercracker nodded and stood. "Where do we go from here, Starscream?"

The red seeker stood slowly, his frame groaning with his weight. "Well, based on your energy outputs, I'd say you have a ship. So get the Pit out of here."

"That's not what I meant."

Starscream suddenly threw his arms in front of him. He regarded all of the broken buildings and dead mechs that were in his vision and said, "I am the leader of the Decepticons; behold my inheritance." His arms fell to his sides. "This is all I ever wanted, TC. Leave it to Megatron to distort my desires so they actually try to destroy me."

"So you blame Megatron for all of this," he said flatly.

Starscream glared angrily at his trinemate. "I blame him as much as I blame myself. But I also blame those Autobot friends of yours. And I blame Primus. And Unicron. Slag, I blame the fleshlings."

Thundercracker huffed his vents. "Come on, let's get you inside and cleaned up so we can get out of here."

"I'm not coming."

TC rounded on his trinemate. "_What_?"

"I have a duty to fulfill."

Thundercracker slapped his helm with his servo. "You chose _now_ to be loyal?"

"DO _not_ even begin to talk to me about loyalty." Thundercracker closed his shocked mouth.

Starscream folded his arms over his cockpit. "There's no room for me on that ship. And before you retort, I meant there is no room for me and what I represent. You have 500 some Autobots in there. Perhaps the only Cybertronians left. And you want to throw _me_ into that mix? Pfft, they'd have me assassinated quicker than you could say 'Straxus of Polyhex.'"

Thundercracker shook his head. "Staying here would be suicide. And the Autobots could... get used to you."

Starscream wanted to laugh, but didn't. He decided just to let that vein of thought fall flat.

Thundercracker was suddenly very close. His optics were pleading, as he tilted his head. "Please, Starscream. I don't want to lose another trinemate."

Starscream looked into the optics of this one that had _lied_ to him right right to his faceplate. This same one that had killed their trinemate. And this one that had saved the Cybertronian race because of his idiotic sentiments. "You lost me as your trinemate long ago."

Thundercracker felt slapped in the face, and felt he should feel angry with this seeker before him. But nothing came. His words were unfair, hypocritical even, but he knew that it was Starscream's way of saying goodbye. Closing off any type of affection, instead, replacing it was brusk words and a clipped retort.

"At least come in and say goodbye."

Starscream nodded, slowly following the blue seeker.

As they entered, many mechs hushed around them, running their optics over Starscream. No Decepticon other than Thundercracker even knew about this place, and their trust of TC only went so far. The sparklings meandered through the milling Autobots, slowing only when they caught their creator's optic warily.

"Come on, greet your uncle."

They sprung from the floor and attached themselves to Starscream, who gave a surprised look as he tried to catch them. He dimly thought that they quickly forgave from their experience earlier; the last uncle they had encountered had tried to kill them. And still, they held nothing back with their affection, chirruping and clicking their fondness. All the Autobots softened, smiling when they saw the bristling Air Commander put his helm to the helm of the sparklings he held in affection.

He put them down and started talking to them, murmuring something or other. Thundercracker was about to lean down to get in on it too, when Skydive came up behind him.

"I think we're ready, Thundercracker."

The blue seeker turned around, smiling to his friend. "You know you don't have to report to me any more; you have your Prime now."

"Leadership doesn't have to come from the Matrix. He said he defers to you for now in recognition for all you have done."

"That's hardly necessary, but alright. We'll begin launching procedures, whenever you're ready." Thundercracker noticed that Skydive was no longer looking at him, but past him to the red seeker and the two little sparklings. Thundercracker turned around to see as well.

"Promise me, _promise_, that after everything, and no matter what happens, you will never lie to one another. I don't care if you swallow the Autobot code of your creators, or you harken back to you Decepticon upbringing... but do not lie to each other. You will always have that anchor. And then maybe you can avoid what happened here."

The two sparklings listened with rapt attention, but Thundercracker wondered how much they actually understood. They at least understood the sentiment behind it, because they began to whimper and quickly scrambled to envelop their uncle in a hug. Starscream embraced them back and then pulled back, turning to Thundercracker.

"So, you're on your way then. Have enough fuel?"

"Yes, we were planning on going to-"

"No, no, I don't want to hear it." Starscream had begun to cover his audios.

Optimus Prime came up to their group. "You're not coming," he observed. A few groups around them hushed.

Starscream shook his helm, choosing not to elaborate. Optimus nodded, and then turned to Thundercracker. "Then I suggest we begin our ascent out of here. There is nothing left for us."

The blue seeker looked to his trinemate with sad optics. But then, he too nodded.

Starscream turned to go out of the hidden ship, running into Skyfire and Perceptor. Skyfire smiled at the red seeker, who responded with a wry expression. "Don't get caught in any snow storms," he said, earning a chuckle from the shuttle. Perceptor locked optics with his former master for maybe the first time in vorns, and he nodded. Starscream nodded back, turning towards the door. He walked out as he heard huge engine turbines roaring to life.

He ran out of the way, turning back when he was several lengths away from the exhaust from the engines. The ship gracefully emerged from the surrounding buildings, white metal with a huge Autobot symbol painted on the side. Starscream had no expression as he saw them leave.

It's ascent was slow at first, since even Cybertron's gravity was hard to break. But it quickly rose up and out, disappearing into the clouds as if it were jumping out of the ocean to walk on land. Starscream waited until it was out of sight and then he continued his trek.

* * *

He walked for cycles. He didn't dare fly because he could be spotted by others who were wandering around and, though repaired to functionality, he still was in no condition to fight.

He chose not to think much. Things were swirling around in his mind, and he feared that they threatened to consume him if he indulged.

Along his path, a mech peeked out from behind a huge pile of rubble. Starscream rolled his optics, calling that he should come out.

"H-high lord Starscream!" the mech called. It was some unknown groundpounder that cautiously made his way around the sharp pieces of shrapnel. He was covered in energon, but he seemed frightened, so he probably didn't have ATD. "I didn't think any of the high lords survived!"

"And let me now reward that faith," he said, raising his null-ray.

"Wait, _wait_, Lord. Please, we are stronger in numbers!"

Starscream considered that. "If we encounter something, I'm going to just throw you to them. Understand?"

The mech paused and then nodded. "Thank you, thank you lord."

Starscream kept walking, muttering, "Pathetic," under his breath. They walked and gained a few more survivors, and surprisingly did not run into any mechs that wanted to kill them. Had Starscream allowed himself to think, he might have thought this was odd. The mechs followed Starscream with some hope that this was all according to plan... Some kind of _twisted_ plan, but weren't they all? One of the dozen or so suddenly had the courage to ask Starscream where they were going.

"Kalis. You don't have to come."

But still they followed, not attempting any more conversation with their sullen leader. He kept his eyes trained on the skies, and many wondered if he was looking for his famous trinemates. Yet no wings graced the sky.

Finally they reached Kalis, and they fanned out looking for survivors. Starscream didn't stop walking, heading straight for the biggest estate, or what was left of it.

The front entrance was blocked, but there was an opening that led to the underground levels of the estate, and it was just big enough for him to squeeze through. The small space did not excite him, but he went in anyway.

Surprisingly, the place was cavernous inside because the upper levels had collapsed down, leaving a huge open space inside the complex. It was dark and every little step he made echoed throughout the place. And despite the obvious danger the decrepit building posed, he forged onward.

After a few cycles of rummaging, he found him. He was seated cross-legged on a small dais, staring up through a narrow opening that led to the sky.

"I knew you would still be alive."

"Starscream: your survival had been doubtful."

The seeker huffed his vents, jumping up onto the dais next to the telepath. "Because you sensed my fractured sanity."

"Correction: I sensed _all_ the Decepticon's fractured sanity."

"How long did you know this was going to happen?"

"There was an 42.15% chance that Cybertron would be destroyed in riots. That percentage only grew from when I first calculated it a year ago."

"Coinciding with your last public appearance. So you sent your cassettes out instead."

"Reply: They also began to develop ATD and I could not keep their minds sane. They are in here," he said, indicating his chassis where the cassettes would return to, "until we find a cure."

Starscream shook his helm. "And you still continued to go with Megatron's plan."

Soundwave continued to stare up at the sky. "Fact: I am loyal to Megatron."

"Even when you knew our plan was going to result in this?" The seeker was not angry, at least not any more. He was just mildly surprised.

"Megatron was informed of the danger. He finally took precautions to protect himself when I explained the imminent threat. Shockwave also convinced Megatron to seek shelter elsewhere."

The seeker groused. "Of _course _he did." Starscream stared at the telepath and then looked down to the ground. So the tyrant slagger _had_ known what was going to happen. Then he would reappear and rally his troops again, all of them so slagging happy that their true commander and leader had returned to save them all.

When he looked up, he noticed Soundwave had turned to look at him. Doubtless the slagger had read his thoughts, but again he didn't care at this point.

"Query: What was the ship that left the surface?"

"It was the remainder of the Autobots escaping."

"Correction: It was the remainder of the Autobots being released."

Starscream narrowed his optics. "Why do you even ask questions if you're just going to read my mind anyway?"

Soundwave shrugged. "For your benefit."

Starscream harrumphed and hopped down from the dais. He dusted off his frame since there was a small film of ash and dust collecting there from inside this building.

"Query: What do we do now?"

Starscream spun around, angry. When he saw the former Communications officer wince at his harsh thoughts, he stopped. Starscream himself had avoided this question for a long time.

"...We rebuild the army. The Autobots are back, and so we too will rise again."

Soundwave's optics glinted in the low light. He stood and followed Starscream out to great the rapidly growing camp of survivors.

* * *

According to Soundwave, a recent scan had revealed that all of the mechs left alive on the planet were free from ATD. This was not from some stroke of pure luck. In fact, ATD had melted from the remaining mechs processors as soon as they had seen the huge Autobot symbol ascending away from the planet.

Suddenly, there were real Autobots to fight.

Megatron would return not long after. His return was not nearly the grand affair he or Starscream had expected, because Starscream, Soundwave, and even a quiet Shockwave had managed to keep things under control. They had begun to rebuild parts of Cybertron, but under no pretenses of grandeur. Everything was efficient, solid, and effective for getting their broken army back on its feet.

By the end, there were barely 500 of them in total. Many of them were from broken trines and gestalts that made them relatively useless in the beginning. Rather than take shortcuts by just rewiring them, the Command let them grieve their fallen comrades then found them new partners among the remaining few.

Megatron relied heavily on the triumvirate of Starscream, Soundwave and Shockwave that had developed in his absence. He was still seen as the the face of the army and the movement, but after the "Splintering" as they chose to call it, their war mindset was more about reclaiming the beauty of Cybertron rather than conquering and destroying other worlds.

They sent scouts out to try and follow the Autobots, but they could not find their ship's trail anywhere. Megatron knew they would clash yet again, and he felt they should be prepared should they appear. At this point, he felt that Cybertron needed protectors from alien species that might take advantage of the planet's weakened state to take it for themselves.

So the militant Decepticons had their hands full. Starscream and the rest of the triumvirate worked ceaselessly to amend the vorns of damage to their collective processors, and they found positive signs that they were striving towards becoming separated from their war dependency. In the mean time though... there was a planet to protect.


	15. Epilogue: The Beginning

Epilogue: The Beginning

It was quiet on New Cybertron, and all the mechs around knew that could only mean trouble. Youngling trouble.

"Shut_ up, _Terrowing! You're going to get us caught."

"I don't think me telling you this is a bad idea would get us caught over you yelling at me!" his brother whispered harshly.

Blizburst rolled his optics and turned the remote control over in his servo. "Well, we're too far into it now to stop. At least we have a good vantage point to see his face."

"And what in Primus's name are you two doing?"

The younglings winced and they shared one thought between their optics. _Absolutely busted_.

"It certainly doesn't look like flying lessons from Skydive or s-curve training from Sunstreaker."

The twins turned to face their creator, as Blizburst quietly hid the remote behind his back. It didn't escape the optics of their creator though.

"What was that?"

"N-nothing-"

Their creator grabbed the younglings wing firmly and spun the young seeker around. It was forcibly pried from the youngling's servo and inspected under an inscrutable gaze.

"Pranking Red Alert? That's hardly even sporting." Their creator looked them over with a "wait 'til we get home" look that made their sparks skip a few pulses.

"What's going on?" came a deep, rumbling voice.

"Slag," Blitzburst muttered.

"_What _did you just say? Youngling, I'll have you cleaning your glossa with _sand_ if you keep it up."

"Yes Ama."

"Thundercracker, it appears _your_ younglings not only enjoy pranking members of the council, let alone our chief of town security, but also using disgusting language designed for the gutters."

Thundercracker took a long hard look at the younglings, making sure to give his best glare. "I am _very _disappointed in both of you." He turned to his bond-mate. "Hydraspark, I will deal with their punishment. And then I'll take that," he said, indicating the remote, "to make sure they deactivate it."

"I expect _details_," she said lowly, making the younglings shiver a little. She then stalked off to her job as energon purifier on the other end of town.

"Primus, I thought she was going to hand our aft to us," Blitzburst said, relaxing.

Thundercracker chuckled when his bond-mate was out of audio-range. "Seriously, lay off the language will you? I mean, way to make her think I was going to lay into you, but _geez_. It only makes her more mad."

"We really ticked her off this time, didn't we dad?"

Thundercracker looked to his other youngling, Terrorwing, whose doorwings had drooped a little at his mother's tirade. The seeker put a hand on his youngling's helm to reassure him. "That's just her way. If it were just me all of the time, you two would get away with everything. And then all of your pranking wouldn't have any risk."

Terrorwing smiled at that and nodded, affirmed.

"Now, let's see what you had cooked up for good ole Red," he grinned, pushing the button.

* * *

Hydraspark submitted to yet another scan, this one of Ratchet's design. She hated these helm dissections because it reminded her of what she had been like before she had been released from her mental prison.

Apparently, right before Sanctuary had left the planet, Starscream had slipped a data-chip to the sparklings, telling them to give it to Ratchet once they had taken off. They had performed their duty, and Ratchet looked at it immediately when he had heard it was from the red seeker. On the chip was an entire schematic of the procedure he had done on Hydraspark with explicit details on how he surmised it could be reversed if someone in the future deemed it necessary.

After hearing about their story, Ratchet set aside all other projects and dove into helping them out. He had seen it as an olive branch: he would be the first of the ones Shockwave had collected to accept that Thundercracker was not only sincere in his actions, but one of them. So he took Hydraspark's case very seriously and finally discovered a way to get her back most of her emotional subroutines.

It had been a slow recovery, but it so was acclimating to their new life. Everyone had different skills and various levels of job experience, and it had been difficult to find a fulfilling position for everyone. She had been given the glorious job of energon purification. Whoppee.

But they were happy. Their little town had blossomed over the vorns, and the schools were filled to the brim with sparklings.

But in the back of everyone's mind loomed the horrible events they had lived through just previously. And also was the thought that their paradise was not complete: the Cybertronian civil war still kept their two factions separated. Even in less numbers, the war could not be over with until... Well.

'Til all are one.

But for now they had no interest in their former home or their former masters, choosing instead to focus on creating a society that could flourish away from the horrors of their past.

* * *

The two seeker scouts pushed each other in an argument as they flew over a small, sandy planet.

"I'm _telling_ you, we already scanned this planet, bolts for brains!"

"And I'm telling _you_ that we scanned one very similar to it, but it wasn't this one." He shoved the other, as if being physical would convince his trinemate that he was right.

"_Oh_, is that the best you can do, you aft-plate fragging, outdated, _binary_-"

"_Will you two shut up_?" came a voice over their comms. It was their third trinemate, back on their base with the other seekers. "_If you two don't remember, scan it again._"

One of them rolled their optics while the other one pulled out their scanner from subspace. "But if we are scanning it for the second time, then we are wasting-"

Blips. Where there should be flatlines.

"_Well? Come'on, quick! Starscream is coming over here for an update._"

"We... uh, we have... something."

"Blips, rather."

"Yeah, blips."

They heard their trinemate talking rapidly to their Air Commander. Suddenly Starscream patched onto their frequency. "_Are you sure_?"

"Yes, er, yes sir. Definitely blips."

"_I'm coming to your location. Do _not_ engage in any fashion. That means _stay still."

"Yessir," came the reply as the two grinned wickedly.

* * *

Blizburst kicked some gravel as he heard his mother yell at his father. His dad had taken full responsibility for the prank, saying that he was curious what his younglings had cooked up.

Their house was at the edge of town, sitting on a nice little plot of gravel and sand, just like the rest of the planet. What had stood out for them was the huge valley they overlooked that emptied a river into a lake, which was perfect for their amphibious mother and their seeker father. The younglings too enjoyed the space because it gave them the opportunity to go exploring, something they both found they loved. There was not much greenery: just some scrub grass and the occasional stunted tree. The planet looked a lot like a desert, but it was more full of dirt and gravel rather than sand, which suited the abundant car-alts just fine.

Another reason their house was at the edge of town was one of those silently understood things that no one had ever talked about, but it was still there at the edge of their minds. Thundercracker was the only former Decepticon among them, and even if he had made up for his crimes, he was still different. And though no one really treated him or his family differently, at the same time they did.

Unfortunately, sparklings and younglings are the first to catch on to this unspoken rule, and Blitzburst and Terrorwing both found themselves picked last for games and often overlooked in activities. Terrorwing was quiet and hopeful, while his brother was often getting in some fist-fights with other younglings over something that none of them quite understood.

It was when he heard his mother sobbing that he rolled his optics and transformed into a small jet, gunning his engines to get out of there. He knew the scene that was going on in there: his mom would yell at his father, he would calmly defend himself, she would lash out at him and then start sobbing, at which point Thundercracker would embrace her and console her, everything forgiven. His dad had assured him that his mother's aggression and other randomly changing emotions were a result of her processor still being a little laggy from the operation. Blitzburst didn't care. He and his mother had not gotten along since she was "fixed," and every time everyone stopped everything to help her he was usually gone for cycles, trying to get away from them.

Usually Terrorwing followed him on the ground, if anything but for company. But today Terrorwing himself was out, so Blitzburst took off and glided over the valley, practicing his barrel rolls.

He was far away from the house when he was joined in the two points behind him by two grown jets.

Blitzburst panicked and gunned his engines, trying to speed past the two mechs. They merely sped up, allowing their nosecones to get within a breadth of the youngling seeker's wings. The young seeker yelped and then pulled up, banking to slow down enough to transform.

The other two jets, one orange and the other a green transformed and eyed the little mech before them.

"Aw, he's barely a youngling! I thought for sure he was just some stunted Aerialbot."

"But do you _see_, he's a seeker. Been a while since I saw such a young one."

"You suppose he even knows who we are?"

Blitzburst regarded the two with his best Starscream impression. "You're Decepticons."

"Ha! Did you hear that, Ailron?"

"I sure did, Wingslat. Little slagger knows who we are, and knows enough to try and _run_."

"What do ya think Starscream would want us to do?"

"I don't know, Wingslat, _you_ want to comm him and ask him?"

The green one, Wingslat apparently, shuddered. "No thank you. I'd just as soon shoot my own thruster off rather than tell him we'd disobeyed orders."

"St-starscream?" the youngling said, trying to remain haughty.

The orange seeker, apparently Ailron turned his red optics back to the youngling. "Yeah, kid. That flyin' son of a cessna's our boss, and he and the rest of us been looking for your little friends over there for several vorns."

Blitzburst's optics went wide. "He's... coming here?"

"Well, probably. I mean I assume that's why he wanted us to come here and find you. Right Wingslat?"

"I mean, yeah. That sounds right. But we should probably get back up to where he said to meet him. But what do we do with the brat?"

"Slagger's seen us, 'Slat. We can't let him wander off and tell ole Prime what we've arrived, can we?"

The little black and cyan seeker visibly shivered. "Just whatever you do, don't bring me to him!"

The two mechs looked at each other, a brilliant idea suddenly gracing their processors. "Hey 'Ron."

"What could it be, 'Slat?"

"I think we should bring this youngling as a gift for our glorious Air Commander, ya'think?"

"I think that would be smashing." They both lunged for the seeker, laughing when the youngling struggled.

"Ah. Let me go slaggers." They seemed to believe it, but Blitzburst silently chided himself for not being very convincing.

"Let's move, 'Slat, before we're made into energon dispensers."

"Well, stop talking and gun, it, idiot!"

Blitzburst thought to himself: How could his uncle employ these idiots?

* * *

Starscream followed the coordinates to the small planet. Surprisingly, it wasn't that far away from Cybertron, but the fleeing Autobots probably had thought that the Decepticons would be in no shape to pursue them for a long time.

And in many respects, they were probably right.

He transformed when he saw two idiotic grins greeting him. "Well?" he asked, huffing his vents in annoyance.

"Oh, right. Here you are sir, several blips of energy signatures on a relatively energy...-less... planet, just like you said."

"This says there are over 700 hundred of them."

"Seems they, uh, were busy."

Starscream rolled his optics. Then he noticed the two other seekers were watching him closely. Then they looked at each other, and seemed to be giving looks to the other to try and make them speak first. Starscream snapped his digits. "What the slag is your problem?"

"We brought you a gift!" Ailron said, pushing the little seeker out in front of him.

Starscream gaped at the youngling, then he pinched the bridge of his nose while shuttering his optics in annoyance. "You went down to the planet," he said, simply.

The two seekers didn't pick up on the danger yet. "Well not so much as we went down-"

"-as he was up-"

"-and he _had _seen us-"

"-so we nabbed him."

Starscream's wings shook, but he stopped himself, trying to regain control of his intakes. "Did it occur to you slag-for-processors that a youngling would be _missed_? And while their searching for him- a _flier_ no less- they might say, 'Ooo Prime, let's scan the skies!' Tell me what they would find if they scanned the skies."

Ailron meekly replied, "Us?"

"So you have at least half of a processor. And when they find us, we _sparklingnappers_ will be the creators of the next stage of the civil war. Brilliant job, aftheads. Excellent."

"Uhm, I'm sorry, Starscream," Blitzburst said, catching a small silence in Starscream's tirade.

"You doubtless have little to be sorry for, youngling-" but then he stopped. "Primus. _Blitzburst?_"

"I'm sorry, I convinced them to bring me. I don't want to go back."

Starscream put his servo to his face. "This is the last thing I need right now."

"I'm _serious_," the youngling cried. He was sick of adults ignoring him, and this was his only chance. "I don't belong down there. I'm not an Autobot."

Starscream's optics softened a little, but he frowned. "And what about your brother?"

Blitzburst's faceplate looked a little shamed.

"And your father, _Thundercracker_," he growled, glaring at his subordinate seekers. When they realized whom they had kidnapped, they realized just how much slag they were really in.

"He was a Decepticon once too. He'd understand."

Starscream hovered over to his nephew, making himself optic-level with the young seeker. "Blitzburst. You can't be a Decepticon. Not now anyway. You have too many obligations back home."

Blitzburst jutted out his chin. "If you send me back, I'll them that you are here."

Starscream snarled. "Blitzburst. If you say that, you will force my servo. I do not like to be _forced_."

"I see no other option," the youngling said, crossing his arms over his chassis.

Starscream almost smirked. This youngling, besides being the spawn of Unicron, was definitely his "nephew." He saw a Skywarp in him, a tiny bit of Thundercracker, and a lot of himself in the pretentious little upstart. He tried a different tactic. "Do you remember Megatron?"

Blitzburst nodded after a moment's hesitation.

"You only met him few times, so I understand if you've forgotten. He's the scariest mech alive, Blitzburst, and that is putting it mildly. The scary things that still haunt under your berth, even though you think you are old enough to have forgotten about them? They cower in fear before Megatron. _He's_ the one that decreed your mother be altered. _He's_ the one that had Prime as a pet. And you would willingly submit yourself to his rule?"

Blitzburst looked confused. "But _you're_ there."

Starscream opened his mouth, then closed it. He looked away at the stars thinking that this youngling was very, very right, and very, very wrong all at the same time. The red and white seeker turned again to the young seeker.

"You're right. I have an obligation to the Decepticons, and with that comes Megatron, no matter how I feel about the arrangement. But you have an obligation to them," he said, pointing down towards "New Cybertron." "You are a youngling and you are part of their society. It doesn't have to be permanent though." Blitzburst looked wide, his purple optics swimming with hope.

"There will come a time when the Decepticons will again meet the Autobots, and whether that will be on the battlefield or in a conference room, I can't say. Things have changed much over the vorns, but some things," he said, glancing at the two seekers who withered under his gaze, "...some things, remain the same. So here is how this is going to work. You will go back down there and tell no one about us. We will leave and the next time we come back, Prime will know we are coming. No surprise attack." The two seekers seemed confused about what Starscream was saying, since it didn't seem to be what Megatron was preaching.

"And when we do meet again, if you still feel this way about your place, you can join us. However, you are not old enough to make that decision for yourself."

Blitzburst nodded slowly, disappointed but accepting. "What about Terrorwing?"

"What about him?"

"Well you said I could never keep secrets from him, but I don't think he'll want to be a Decepticon."

Starscream frowned, not wanting to rescind his previous statement. "I told you that because the 'Splintering' was caused by too many secrets. I think you can keep one from your brother for his own safety."

Starscream turned around. "We'll be back, Blitzburst. But for now, go back to them, and prove to us you can keep a secret."

Blitzburst eagerly nodded, transforming and heading back towards his home.

"As for you two," he said, grabbing them roughly by the wings. "Don't abduct younglings! Understand?" They nodded rapidly.

Starscream threw them away from him and transformed, flying into the blanket of stars that awaited him.

* * *

A/N: And so ends the descent into madness, and the rise of something else. Whether good or bad is for you to judge, and decide on your own terms.

This is set up nicely for a sequel, but I hope you're not too mad when I say I have too many other projects going one right now to delve into that. I just couldn't offer you the same quality of twists as were in this one... and writing sequels is always tricky since there is a new audience to consider. Still, at some point, I might revisit this.

Ultimately, there were some major problems with this story, and I'll be the first to admit it. But it was my first foray into writing TF fiction, so I thought for that at least, I'm happy with it. For a little bunny that bit me, it turned out okay, but it didn't have nearly the scope I wanted nor the amount of fairness of writing to both the Autobots and the Decepticons. I've decided I have to get a bit better before I try to write Autobots again without making them flat characters. Part of it is I haven't read fanfiction with the Autobots... and that I haven't found how they are fun to write yet.

And so if you enjoyed it, please tell me. If you hated it... well, I guess tell me anyway, but give me a cookie to soften the blow. As always, I've been truly blessed by my reviewers, and I thank you so much for poking me to continue and giving me the absolute joy it is to see that someone took the time to leave me some feedback. So to you, I thank you.

9aza: You were my first reviewer, and you've stuck with me for every chappie. Thank you so much for that support and I've really grown to admire you in the fandom for reviewing so often. You make this fandom rock! It really meant a lot to see what you wrote and you are so kind for it. You are truly appreciated.

Shadir: Heh, I want to personally thank you as well for reviewing so often. Yo creo que hablas espanol, y perdóneme por favor que mi español es terrible. Ha significado mucho para mí que revisar tan a menudo, así que sólo quería darle las gracias desde el fondo de mi corazón. Like I said, terrible, but I think you might be able to understand. Muchas gracias.

Skywarped: I owe a lot to you, because you called me out on some things, and you were absolutely right to question me. You were also very kind in your reviewing, and I found it to be a personal victory if I got you to review it positively. That to me meant a lot that you were being honest, and still being excited about what I was writing. I also remember you giving me that push about a month ago to finish this thing up, and I really and honestly have to owe it to you. Thanks.

Not so Dark: Seriously; love you. That was so much fun to see you reading along with it, and getting your reactions as you got to certain parts... It was like I was reading it beside you and seeing you react. I'm glad you enjoyed it, and I've actually taken you as my role model now every time I set out to review a fic that's already written many chapters: by reviewing each one, it makes the writer smile.

Vivienne Grainger: Meant a lot to see you review too. I'm a huge fan of your work and I really appreciate you taking a look at mine. Thanks for the glowing reviews.

Starfire201: I also appreciate your comments because I'm also a fan of yours. Thanks so much for helping me along, and I'm glad to have given something that you found entertaining.

The Starscream: Aw, thanks friend. You didn't have to review just because I was beta'ing! But you did anyway, and you enjoyed my stuff before I mentioned it. It meant a lot to here you say that you read it and enjoyed it before you started reviewing because that made me think of all of the others who enjoy it. Thanks.

Wol lo: Thank you so much for your reviews. You always made me smile, so thanks.

Kathleen: Wow, I am honored by your long critique. Totally threw me by surprise to find such a developed piece from an anon reviewer! First off, thank you! But I will address some things here: I completely agree with you that the Autobots did not have a whole lot of emotional duress, and I'll be the first to admit it going back. Part of that is they have moved on, as you have surmised, but the other part of it is that I chose not to dwell on it. I never felt the fic was about them, and I didn't want to give crappy writing to address something I didn't feel was necessary. Also, I always thought the Autobots would be emotionally stronger by default as they have to be fully aware of the evils of the universe and then try and save everyone. In retrospect, some enslavement might actually be just a little blip on their radar. However, you're not the first to tell me this, so I am glad you told me again, it just gives more credence to the critique and adds to my repertoire. By the end, this fic was already written in my head, and I really was so ready to move on, but I _had_ to finish it. So while there were some pieces I would have changed, ultimately this is what we got. Thanks for reviewing, and thanks for liking it anyway despite it's drawbacks.

Then to the others not mentioned above: I think no less of you, and every single one of you contributed to this story whether you think so or not. You make this fandom great.

To the lurkers: Thanks for being little visitors to my fic! I would always check my traffic page and see the little number go up at the amount of people that read it. The "blips" in this last chapter were for you!


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